Say goodbye to ya kneecaps, chucklehead!
by Kazhiru
Summary: Scout was the happiest, and Fastest man to date. Or was. He got both his kneecaps blasted at the field, and he got taken as a prisoner for the RED. Engineer is the only one who has the slightest will to bring some light in to his life.
1. Chapter 1

**IMPORTANT AN: **Hello, this is me Kazhiru!

I'm here with a new story. It's a Scout/engineer, and I wrote this during NaNoWriMo 2012. I finally got to posting it. It is going to be 14 chapters long, where 13 chapters will be posted here on , and the last, mature rated chapter is going to be on AO3. The AO3 Version will also include spontaneous pictures.

for the full version go HERE: Search Archive of our own, to to website. Add works/858042 after url.

I promise you daily updates since the story is finished and all ready for your reading pleasure. Please enjoy!

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The moment before the roll-up door moved was tense. Scout was firming his already tight grip around his bat. He was not nervous, he was excited. He had been on the battlefield long enough to get used to the continuous fighting. Or one could say that he had been on the battlefield long enough to like it.

Scout swung his bat out of the way as he jogged for a warmup. He was impatient for the round to begin, and he had set himself a challenge to kill or sabotage as many of those RED bastards as he could. ‟Come on, come on.‟ He chanted, as he prepared to sprint. He knew the 2Fort better than his own pockets, and he was aiming straight for the kill.

The administrator started to count seconds for the start of the round, and Scout was preparing himself for the launch. He would be the first one to cross the bridge, and the first one to lay any damage on this round, he would make sure of that.

‟One.‟ And that was Scout's cue. He set off in a sprint, and he took long, fast, and as powerful leaps as he could to get enough speed for the jump. He wanted to cross the bridge before the Red Sniper got him on his crosshair. Scout had a feeling that the Sniper would enter the field through the supply room, but Scout was confident that he would beat him to it. He could see a Soldier running along the sniper deck, but gladly the idiot's helmet was so low that the other couldn't see a thing or then he didn't care. Neither did Scout. Scout jumped from the bridge's roof and prepared to land on the sniper deck, but the Sniper wasn't as slow as Scout had hoped him to be.

‟Boom. Headshot.‟ Was the only thing Scout heard, and the last thing he realized was that his jump had ended up to be too short, and he hit the edge of the deck painfully, and he felt his ribs crack and air get squeezed out of his lungs. With that Scout fell to his death on the floor with the administrator's voice ‟First blood.‟ ringing in his ears.

Scout took a quick inhale as he respawned in the supply room. ‟This sucks!‟ He yelled as he got up, and rubbed his chest that was feeling ghost pains. Sometimes that happened, there wasn't really anything wrong, but your mind remembered the pain.

‟Well that's what you get.‟ The BLU engineer laughed, and Scout turned around to scowl at him angrily. ‟What the fuck are you doing here?‟ The man should be on the field.

‟Resupply.‟ The hardhat grinned, and hit Scout on the back of the head with his wrench as he left. That goddamn hardhat was making fun of him. Scout scowled as he rubbed his head and got back on the field. This time he would be more successful.

Scout ran to the sewer entry, this time passing the Sniper easily enough as the jumped straight to the sewer water. The water sploshed everywhere as he landed, and he just wished that no-one heard the splosh. He hated water. He loathed sever water, and every time he did this, he promised himself that he would never do it again, but he ended up doing it anyways. ‟God, this is disgusting!‟ He grumbled as he saw something unspecified float across the water surface, and Scout tried to hold his retch. Easy now. He thought as he slowly started to wade across the water. He was piss ass poor swimmer, and he didn't want to trust in his swimming abilities in a place like this.

Scout made his way under the bridge where he was safe from spying eyes. He made his way across the water, and he entered the sewers. The tunnel was disgusting. It was always completely drenched in water, and there was water dripping on his neck, causing him goosebumps. The sewer floor was slowly growing water plants on the bottom, or whatever plants those were which survived under all that sludge.

Scout took slow steps forward, but he slipped on some underwater weed, and he slapped his hand against the sewer wall, and he regretted it immediately. His once clean hand wrapping was now tainted with dark green, vile smelling sludge, that only stuck to his fingers and made his grasp slip from the bat he was holding. ‟Aw, jeeze.‟ He hissed as he tried to shake the stuff off his hand, but he ended up rubbing it on his already ruined pants. ‟Never again.‟ He promised himself once again, as he waded deeper.

He was finally out of the tunnels, and he took one step at a time to get up to the first floor of RED base. He saw a Heavy and a Medic pair run in from the main doors and to the ramp room. Scout waited them to pass, and quickly ran to the L-shaft. The L shaft was for some reason not used that often, but the courtyard was usually well guarded. But Scout was prepared for this. He prepared his Sandman as he came closer, and he slowly inched closer to the ramp, and when he had the sentry in his sight, he aimed a hit at it, and he smiled gleefully as the stupid machine exploded to peaces. ‟Broke your stupid crap, moron!‟ Scout yelled to the RED Engineer hissing in anger by the remains of his sentry. Scout could see the other fumbling for his gun, dropping the wrench on the ground while he was at it.

Scout started to proceed up the stairs as the Engineer prepared his gun for a revenge shot, But this time Scout was prepared to be the faster one. He climbed up the ramp, and jumped as the Engineer shot, avoiding damage, and he ran around the Engineer, confusing him, and he then fielded his own gun and shot the engineer on point plank range, and just to be on the safe side, he shot him twice. ‟How's that feel, wimp?‟ He mumbled, and he turned around to run to the Sniper docks, and he prepared to jump down to get people lost on his tracks. There was already a Soldier coming, that damn man had probably heard the sentry explode. Scout was about to take another disgusting dip in the murky water of shit and waste, but decided otherwise as he heard a loud bang and a yell of pain as the Sniper shot down the BLU medic who was currently charging their Heavy. ‟Doctor!‟ Heavy yelled as he turned around, and yelped as the Sniper tried to shoot him too, but not hitting the other man fatally. Scout grinned, and he made his way silently behind the Sniper. Such an annoying bushman needed a proper beating. Scout lifted his sandman and took aim. This Sniper would fly all the way over the BLU base. He thought, and he swung. ‟Bada-schwing!‟ He yelled, and watched the Sniper fly out of the sniper dock, and hit the BLU wall at the opposite side of the bridge, causing Scout to laugh madly. ‟I oughta' be on a baseball card!‟ He joked as he saw the soldier rocked jump to the other side of the bridge to see the damage done to the Sniper. The man was raging! Scout gulped as he realized that the Soldier was looking vengefully directly at him. Scout ran away the minute he saw the other lift up his rocket launcher to shoot.

Not good! Scout thought as he ran as fast as his legs let him, but he still thought that the revenge was worth it.

Scout made a sharp turn to safety, out of the sniper deck, but his journey was put to a stop. He had ran straight to something, and it made a sharp ‟Beep‟ Sound, and suddenly he was getting himself filled with lead as the sentry started to unload it's arsenal in him.

‟I told you not to touch that darn thing!‟ The Engineer yelled, and the Scout fell on his knees. His insides were like Swiss cheese. ‟Shit.‟ He hissed, and he fell dead to the ground.

‟Respawning again, I see.‟ The Engineer laughed, as he was making his exit from the supply room. ‟Fuck you all!‟ Scout scowled and the BLU Engineer only sneered at his direction. ‟Take it like a man, son! This is a war, not a play field.‟ Engineer got back to his sentry, and Scout was nearly hissing with rage. That damn engineer was a total jerk! He was trying his best here! He would show them, he would go get that intelligence, and he would do it now!

Scout ran to the resupply cabinet, and then made his way to the the sniper deck. He would run past the bridge so fast that Sniper wouldn't even notice what hit him, and then he would distract that Engineer somehow. Scout ran as fast as he could past the bridge and he got right next to the upstairs pass way, and he prepared his scatter gun to shoot that sentry to bits. But he didn't have to. Their Demoman had rigged the whole place up, and the moment he peeked inside, he saw the sentry blow up in pieces and the engineer hit the wall, but he was already dead from the destruction as he did so.

‟Wow.‟ Scout said in amazement, but he didn't have any time to linger. He passed by the sentry's scraps, and went for the spiral room to get down for the intelligence. He was already halfway there. He smiled as he ran a little faster, but froze on his stand right before the door. The RED Heavy and Medic duo was there waiting for him. The demo who had been a great help earlier was now bloody mess on the floor. He was screwed.

But at least he still had one advantage: he was faster. He was the fastest man to ever run on this planet. He prepared his baseball to bonk the Heavy unconscious, he could easily outrun even a speeding bullet, but he didn't want to take chances with a minigun. In this small world, there were two things he was undefeated at: Running, and baseball. Not a single of his many siblings could ever top his record, and not a single person he had met dared to challenge him. And he swung. The ball flew in a perfect curve and hit Heavy straight on the forehead, and he fat man wasn't quick enough to even notice a thing! ‟I love my ball!‟ Scout commented in joy, as he made a mad dash to the intelligence room, Medic right behind his heels.

‟Holy shit, a Pyro!‟ Scout yelled as the pyromaniac turned around from the corner, and tried to scorch Scout alive. ‟No, no, no!‟ The other chanted as he tried to run around the other, and he managed to avoid the flames only barely, but the medic got a few hits in, making syringes jut from Scout's back. ‟I hate doctors!‟ He yelled as he swooped the intelligence and tried to avoid the axe coming at his way, only missing it by inches. ‟Man, you are crazy!‟ Scout commented, as he shot the RED Pyro on the head at point blank range, killing the other in an instant. ‟You are trying my patience!‟ The medic yelled, and he started to shoot syringes at Scout, but Scout was prepared avoid the man's attack. No-one should ever try to confront him with such a short range gun.

Scout sprinted out of the intelligence room, and soon he heard an even more scary sound. ‟Protect the intelligence!‟ The RED Soldier yelled as he ran after him.

‟Not that psycho too!‟ Scout mumbled, and he did his best, running as fast as he could. If he only could make it to the sniper dock, he would be able to jump home, and he'd be safe. And he would do just that. He was fast, and he loved the adrenaline that was rushing on his veins and pounding in his ears. It made him run even faster, it made his heart beat faster, and it made him impossible to catch up. The wind howled in his ears, and it almost knocked his cap off his head. He was running so fast that the walls were only one big blur around him. This was what he was born to do. He was not good at tactics, not good at planning, not good at math or anything really, but he was undefeated at running. It was his life, he was the fastest man alive, the Scout. The RED wimp of a Scout didn't have anything to him, he was undefeated! He came in to the second floor, and Engineer had already set up a sentry for him, but he was too fast to get more than a couple of hits in. The RED Scout had joined in the chase as well, but he couldn't reach him with his bat, he was too fast for that slowpoke. Scout made a mad dash to the Sniper dock, where the RED Sniper had been camping probably since the announce of the stolen intelligence. The Sniper pulled the trigger faster than Scout had time to realize the man was aiming at him. Scout was quick enough to jerk to the side, but not to aboid the bullet. It hit him hard on the shoulder, almost making him drop the intelligence, but he managed to recover from the shock. After getting shot in a daily basis one got used to ignoring the blasted pain. He didn't slow down to wonder, but he kept going, he moved behind the wall to avoid further fire, and he jumped, trying to get to the bridge, but Soldier had fired his rocket first. Scout had barely gotten his feet off the ground as the grenade hit the ground and exploded, causing scatter and scraps to hit Scout all over, but that wasn't the all.

‟Holy shit!‟ Scout yelled as he was rocketed past the skies with the intelligence on him. He was still alive, he was still fucking alive as he flew across the bridge and to the BLU side all the way to their sniper dock. But the landing wasn't easy. Scout's fly was stopped by a mad dash against the wall, and the collision broke his neck instantly.

‟Not again at the respawn!‟ Scout yelled in rage as he run to get the intelligence, but he only saw BLU Sniper run with it to the intelligence room. ‟Hey, that was my job!‟ Scout yelled, but the Sniper only laughed at him. ‟Keep yubbin' that big mouth, while it's still attached to your bloody neck. It's the fast that eat the slow here!‟ The other taunted, and Scout was nearly boiling with rage. How dare he accuse him of being slow. ‟You damn wombat!‟ He could only yell at the man, but he was already too far gone.

‟Fuck him, and fuck it all. Is my whole team full of idiots?‟ He hissed as he ran the ramp down to get to the first floor, and to the bridge. He didn't give two fucks if the Sniper survived or not.

‟Success. We have secured the enemy intelligence.‟ Was announced, and Scout could hear it very clearly from his headphone.

‟Well izn't zhat just wonderful.‟ The RED Medic noted, taking Scout from his own world where Sniper's output granted the team the intelligence he had worked very hard on.

‟I healed the man who will kill you.‟ He noted, as the Pyro came from behind him, holding a shotgun in his hands, looking positively malicious.

‟And don't you even think about running away.‟ The Medic grinned as Pyro pulled the trigger and shot Scout right on the kneecap, The bullet shattered and made Scout's kneecap nearly explode in to shrapnel. The pain was unbelievable, and it felt like his kneecap was only splinters on his flesh, causing his leg give away, and Scout hit the ground in kneeling position, crushing his already smashed knee with his own weight.

The pain was unbearable. The dirt got in to his wound, and it made his leg sting as well as his eyes water. ‟Say goodbye to your head, I will add it on my collection.‟ The Medic grinned as the RED Pyro equipped his axe, and lifted it over his head to prepare to chop Scout's head off in one hit.

‟I'm bulletproof!‟ The BLU Heavy came running with the BLU Doctor, and at first Scout was relieved as he saw the fat ass shoot the doctor and the Pyro off of him, but his joy soon turned in to grief as he realized that the fatso had not noticed him at all. The Heavy surely wasn't interesting in searching kneeling Scouts, and he obviously only saw him as a body who had died in a funny position. Scout tried to turn around and yell, but the minigun bullet's were flying haywire in to every direction, and and they either dulled his sounds off, or hit him painfully to the sides, chest, shoulders or legs. The Heavy was going to kill him.

Scout was glad that none of the bullets had done nothing worse that cause pain and dig deep into his flesh. He noted that he could still move. But that gratefulness never lated long as a haywire bullet went straight to his other knee, and Scout could feel the muscles and joints tear. He howled in pain, but even his screams couldn't be recognized from among the other screams all around the battlefield. Heavy's manic laughter covered all other sounds around him as he ran and shot at the same time. ‟Now, it's my killing time!‟ The Heavy yelled, and Scout could feel the bridge shake under the man's heavy stomps as he ran. He was about to lift his hands do protect himself from the approaching doom, but that barely did anything.

‟Cry some more!‟ The Heavy yelled, and he stepped on Scout's leg, thinking that he was just another body. And he had stepped right on his knee. The still somewhat intact kneecap came out of his leg through the pullet hole, and Scout howled in so much pain that there was no other. HE was sure that the whole world could hear him. The pain was blinding, it made white spots appear in his vision, and it made him scream and twitch, but it didn't stop the Heavy. The man nearly trampled him on his legs, not caring about anything, probably trusting that the respawn would safe him eventually. ‟You sick bastard.‟ Scout hissed as the man finally got past him, and he was already losing his consciousness. Scout could notice a lingering thread of having to feel the Medic walk over him as well, but that never came. He heard a sound of ubercharge wearing off, and suddenly there was another body laying next to him. It was the doctor's dead, unmoving body and where the man had once stood there was now a RED spy, holding a dagger in his hand, with a wide smirk on his face as he went after the Heavy.

‟You RED bastards.‟ Scout hissed, and he was positive that he would die from the loss of blood. A slow and painful death.

Scout was trying to stabilize his breathing, and let the respawn take him, but he was rudely awakened by a steel toed boot digging to his ribs.

‟Well look at what we have here. Isn't it the annoying Scout who thought that he could get out intelligence just like that. Well guess what: You thought wrong! Maggot!‟ The RED Soldier yelled, and Scout was surprised he could feel the other's spit hit him on the face. He thought that the pain all over his body would take away all feeling he had left.

‟Don't worry, you will be dead soon. Dead in several pieces.‟ The crazy bastard said as he places the head of the rocket launcher against Scout's face and was about to pull the trigger.

‟Wait, I have an Idea.‟ The Soldier hit Scout on the head with the rocket launcher as he didn't bother lifting it up from it's place as he peered over to see who dared to intrude him, and Scout was horrified that the man might accidentally explode him to tine bits of flesh and bloody mist.

‟Get with the program!‟ The Soldier yelled, and pressed the launcher harder on Scout's face, making the other grunt as his head was nearly crushed between the weapon and the solid ground. Was the fucker leaning on the damn gun?

‟No, this is a good plan, listen up.‟ The RED Engineer whom Scout could only merely see from the corner of his eye was talking. The one whose sentry had been destroyed many times during this match. The engineer kept talking: ‟Let's take him as a hostage.‟

Scout couldn't believe his ears, but he was confirmed that he had heard right as Soldier screamed it again as a confirmation. ‟We will not. That has never been done before, and this will not be the first time!‟ He yelled, but Engineer kept his ground. ‟But that's the perfect reason to have him! The enemy will never suspect it! And then they will be out one member, and the next battle is ours!‟ The Engineer explained, and Scout was trying to put in, but the Soldier did not mind his mumblings.

‟You are right! You should deserve a medal! Let's take him to the base!‟ The Soldier exclaimed, and the Engineer smiled with a victorious grin that sure didn't speak well to Scout. ‟Yes, let's take him to our base, and let's interrogate all the information out of him that we can.‟ The Soldier only seemed to get more happy with the idea, and he lifted his launcher off Scout's head only to smash it against Scout's stomach, causing Scout to retch. ‟You are now officially my favorite man in this war! Let us proceed with this plan!‟ He said, and Scout tried to say something to stop this madness. Anything to get the two man forget him and just leave him to respawn in peace.

‟No, no, no, that's a horrible idea, I don't know anything! You sure don't want me there!‟ Scout tried, but the Soldier just hit him again with the launcher. ‟Shut up you, it's time for you to fall asleep. Sweet nightmares.‟ He said, and in seconds the other had taken out his shovel, and the man hit him with the sharp end straight to the forehead, causing Scout's vision to blur and start to spin around like a merry go around. The last thing he saw was Engineer's victorious, no, veracious look as the blood dripped on Scout's eyes, making sure that he didn't see a thing. The last thing he was aware off before falling in to complete blackness was the feeling of getting roughly lifted on the ground and getting thrown on someone's shoulder, and getting carried away with his leg's swinging around madly, as they no longer were properly attached from the knees. It was only thanks to the faint that he didn't feel the pain of being carried away with legs nearly on a bow tie thanks to this horrible treatment.


	2. Chapter 2

Scout grunted in pain as he rolled around on the hard surface he was laying on. The movement woke him up immediately as he realized that even the slightest movement hurt like hell, and it made him howl in pain. His legs were fucking burning, had he been sleeping on a salt pile? He screamed and he howled, and he curled up in fetal position, but it only made him hurt more. His legs barely reacted to any of his efforts to move them. ‟It hurts!‟ He yelled as he tried to gather his legs up so that the knees would no longer touch the ground. It took him seconds to realize what was going on. He was a hostage of the RED scum. They had taken his headphones and backpack, including weapons, but they had let him have everything else. He also noticed that he was no longer bleeding, but he was covered in dried, and partly tried blood. The smell of that coppery substance was sickening, it made him feel ill, and his stomach swelled with nausea. He wouldn't vomit though, he was supposed to withstand this in the battlefield, he would withstand it here, wherever he was. Scout's breath was getting stuck to his throat, and the breathing sounded ragged. He laid on the cold floor, that he assumed to be cement. The floor was covered by dust and there was a small bay of hay at the corner. The room was really dark and cold. The air drafted in the room, making Scout feel like he would be slowly getting ill. His eyes burned thanks to tears which he was unwilling to shed. His legs hurt more than they had ever hurt before. His legs sure had hurt a lot when he did a very long run without no flexing beforehand, leaving him sore for a full week, but this couldn't even be compared to it. Even the pain of dying and having to respawn didn't match this, because respawning was quick, and it would end his misery soon enough. Scout felt himself shake as he was freezing. The room was completely dark, and only a window with bars on it provided him some light from the night sky. The room itself was small and square shaped. There was a drain in the middle of the floor. It was small, and it led straight to the sewers, and it made constant sploshing noises as the water ran in the pipes. The tiny room didn't have anything in it. The room was big enough for Scout to lay in the room floor in his full height twice. The was only one iron door leading out of the room, and it had a slot on it at head's height, probably so people could check on him. The walls of the room were painted red, and the paint was chipping off.

‟I'm fucking freezing.‟ Scout's teeth started to clatter against each other as the other thought what he should do next. He didn't want to move, he didn't want to be here, and he didn't want any of this. He tried to move to uncoil himself to move, but his legs protested painfully. He couldn't move them at all. He had to, though. He was a curious man, and he just had to find out if his legs could still be salvaged. He tried his best to move a toe, and he could see that the toes were twitching, and that meant that the nerves or joints or whatever those were, were still at least somewhat intact. Or so he thought. He had watched enough movies to know that. How come the hero in the movie could shake off a bullet hit on his arm like it was nothing, and Scout was hissing in pain with his own injuries.

He couldn't fucking stand. He couldn't walk, run, skip, dance, stride, anything. He was fucking handicapped! Could his legs ever be fixed? Being able to move one's toes must be a good sign, even if his bones were shattered. Bones would always grow back, right? Who needed bones anyways, he could have a surgery or something, didn't that fix everything?

God, he needed to move. He needed to get out from the room, besides, the grating that was set on top of the drain was digging at his chest rather uncomfortably.

He would try the door. He decided, and the started to turn around so he would facing the right direction. The door wasn't even far, he could get the in two or so pulls of he dragged his body with his hands. He hissed as he turned so that the wounds on his knees were touching the dirt. It hurt so bad, the smarting was probably the worst. It was like he had a itch that he couldn't scratch, but instead of that annoying itch, there was a world of blinding pain. He bit his teeth as he ignored it. He would need to get moving. Scout grabbed the ground with his hands, and he pushed his fingers hard against the ground. He would pull himself across, and he would endure the pain it caused him, yet, he screamed the whole way with the first drag. He was glad that he couldn't pull himself any further forward, because he needed some air in his lungs. Goddamnit he hurt. He didn't wish to survive, he just wanted this pain to end. He wondered where all those people got their will to live in situation like this, limbs broken, in the middle of nothing with no hopes of surviving, where every move you did hurt more than anything you had known so far.

He would never watch those damn surviving movies ever again.

He could do this, the door was so close he could almost reach it, he was only one pull away. He could do this, the pain wasn't that bad. He prepared for another drag forward, and he hissed in pain from his legs, but he was there. He had made it to the door. He immediately started to push the door and pull from the door handle that was bolted on the door, but the door didn't move an inch. He had not even expected it to, but he still wanted to try. ‟Is anyone there!‟ He yelled, and he banged on the door. ‟Open the goddamn door!‟ He yelled, but he heard no answer. Those RED bastards were probably sleeping off in their cozy beds, even that Sniper would be dreaming of his fucking kangaroo wife at the moment. ‟Let me out goddamnit!‟ Scout yelled, and he hit the door in rage. ‟Fuckers!‟ He yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping that he would wake them all up and at least make them stay up for the rest of the night. ‟You monsters.‟ He hissed, and he looked up. The lid was heavily placed on the door, and it had not been moving an inch no matter how hard Scout had hit the door. If he only could even reach the lid. He moved to sit up so he wouldn't have to hold himself up with his arms, and he tried to reach for it, but he was too short. He would have to stand on his knees to reach there, but his legs were in no shape to do so. He couldn't get his legs under him properly, needless to say that he wouldn't be able to hold them still to stand on them. Besides, he was afraid that his legs would bend or break in to even force shape than they were now.

‟I hate you all.‟ He hissed, as he thought of going for the window, but he knew that it would be no use. The window was even higher than the peephole on the door, he could never be able to reach the bars. Yet, the wind had no troubles at getting to him. He was gold, and he hated the hard floor. It made his tights and ass fall asleep as he sat on the hard floor. He didn't want places to hurt and sting to boot. He was beat, he just wanted to curl up somewhere soft and warm and sleep. He wanted to sleep more than he had ever wanted to before.

And suddenly the hay pile in the corner seemed the most inviting.

Scout groaned as he once again got himself back to his stomach to prepare to drag himself, and he wished that he was too tired to feel it, but he did. He started dragging himself, and he whimpered on every move. He had to take several breaks to breath and collect himself. He looked behind him at times to see how far from the door he had already got, and it nauseated him to see two trails of blood marking his way. The wounds on his knees had obviously reopened during the first few drags, and he was bleeding and getting dirt on his wounds.

‟I don't even fucking care.‟ He hissed, and he turned around to start moving again. He started to pull himself forward put he hissed in minor pain. His fingernails started to chip and break under his weight at the task they were given. Scout bit his cheek in pain, and he rolled on his back in exhaust. He wasn't even that far away, he was nearly there. Was he this worthless? So fucking wimp that he couldn't even do this. The Sniper always told how he had slept in a corpse of a buffalo, Soldier always told how they had yet to see what war was like, and how they were too weak to be on his battlefield.

He wasn't weak. He was the one of the few who got to take part in this fight, that made him better than others. He had made it this war. He would fight through this. He would proceed those few feet he had left to go. Scout started to proceed backwards, moving more slow than previously, but it didn't hurt his legs that much. He lifted himself up in a lifting position, and he started to push his body backwards with his hands. He hated the position. In this position he couldn't help but look at his feet, and he hated it. He loathed the mere sight of them. He was supposed to be the fastest one alive, and he no longer could even walk. His legs were soaked in blood, the knees were in horrible shape and barely recognizable as knees. Where the kneecaps should be were now two huge staring wounds that were dent, showing that something was obviously missing. The wounds were so horrible looking, he wanted to retch at the sight of it. There were two red holes with half dried blood everywhere, the flesh was light at the edges and angry red around it. There was white pus coming from his legs, and the dirt that had gotten all over the wound would be there to stay. He knew that his legs would be very badly inflamed if he couldn't get them cleaned, but he knew that he wouldn't be granted such luxury here.

Scout pushed himself the last few feet he had left, and he fell heavily on his bed of hay. His hands were smarting, and he rubbed them on his shirt. He had gotten a road rash on his hands thanks to this movement, bit it was nothing compared to everything else that he was enduring at the moment. Scout didn't even care if he would get more dirt in his wounds, he just wanted to sleep. He pulled some hay over him as a blanket, and he fell asleep on the pillow of hay.

The morning came too soon for the Scout. It didn't come in with happily chirping birds, but with angry yelling Soldier.

‟What is it with you maggot, attention!‟ The Soldier yelled, and he kicked Scout's leg, causing the other to roar in pain. His vision went completely white from pain for a second, and he wished for a slow death for the fucker who dared to cause this.

‟Stop it!‟ He yelled, and tried to swing his arm as an attack or a defense, but the Soldier was too far.

‟No, you stop it!‟ The Soldier yelled and he took as step forward and he took Scout by his shirt collar, and lifted him up against the wall, causing the other to sob in pain.

‟Tell me what you know!‟ The Soldier pushed, but Scout only whimpered in pain. His legs were twitching in the air as Soldier shook him, and the movement felt like someone was putting his knees slowly through a grinder. It felt like someone was persistent to get rid of his legs by shaving them off with sandpaper.

‟I don't know anything!‟ Scout hissed, and he tried to close his eyes as tight as he could to block it all out. ‟That was not the answer I am looking for!‟ The Soldier growled, and prepared for another assault, but Scout couldn't have it. ‟No, no! I don't even know what to say!‟ Scout tried to cover his face with his hands as he still hung against the wall in pathetic way.

‟Tell me what's in the briefcase.‟ The Soldier grinned, obviously feeling like he was getting to somewhere. ‟I don't know.‟ Scout murmured, only to get the Soldier tighten his grasp on Scout's collar. ‟I seriously don't know! I have never seen in to it! I have never opened one, I don't know anything!‟ The Scout was near his breaking point, but there honestly wasn't any information he could give. There was no way he could survive from this. He wasn't even brave, he was just a pathetic brat, wishing he was something better.

‟Tell me who knows, then.‟ The Soldier pushed on, and Scout wasted a lot of effort trying to shake his head. ‟I don't know, I'm not sure if anyone in the base knows!‟ With the free hand Soldier hit Scout on the face so hard that his lip split. ‟Maybe Spy knows! He knows everything! Also, the woman in the speaker.‟ Scout yelled, and he salivated badly. ‟Maybe the CEO too, I don't know, seriously!‟ Scout was shaking, and he was hurting. He felt so tired he could faint, but he was too scared of getting hurt even more. He was scared as hell that the Soldier would make sure that he would never respawn again. This was serious, not a game like it had been previously, a fight with no consequences since you weren't even dying for real.

‟Well tell us how to contact those people.‟ Soldier said with smooth voice that sounded surprisingly coherent and way too calm to be for real. It scared Scout.

‟I can't say.‟ He mumbled, not willing to tell anything. This was his team they were talking about after all. ‟I know you do.‟ Came the answer. Scout could hear rustle of fabric, and he could feel that the Soldier was holding his collar in his fist so hard that he could hear the seams of his shirt rip. Scout knew he was about to punch his lights off, and he lifted his hands to protect his face on instinct.

But the punch didn't come. Scout moved his hands away from his face enough so he could see, but his hands still protected the most of the sides of his head. Soldier's fist wasn't far away from his face, the man would have crushed his nose if he would have hit that punch.

‟You cover your head in a strange way.‟ The Soldier mused, and Scout was confused.

‟Others would lift their hands to place them on as big of a area to cover their face, but you also lift your shoulders to protect your ears.‟ The other mused this as if it was the key factor to all of this, but Scout wasn't following. He did it on reflex, and he was sure he did it just like everyone else.

‟Because unlike others, you have something on your ears worth protecting.‟ The Soldier grinned madly, and Scout swallowed. ‟Your headphones.‟ Scout hadn't thought of his headphones at the moment of the interrogation, but it was now obvious why he no longer had them. The RED didn't want him to contact his team, but now the RED Soldier realized that it could as well be used for them to contact the enemy without them knowing.

‟It wouldn't work! It's a wasted effort!‟ Scout tried to convince, but he knew it was too late. The Soldier was already letting him go and dropped him on the floor with more force than was necessary to make sure that an already beaten man would not rise up again. Scout howled in pain. He didn't even want to open his eyes, he was afraid of what he might see.

‟Your team's secret plans will not remain secret anymore.‟ The Soldier laughed, as he took strides out of the small cell Scout was in, and he threw the heavy door closed behind him.

‟They would already have shut down the connection since I didn't respawn!‟ Scout yelled, but it was too late. Not a single sound could get through that iron door.

At some point Scout had fallen asleep. He was awoken with a kick on his ribs, witch made his sides ache.. ‟Get up, wanker.‟ The voice said, and Scout picked himself up on a sitting position in a second, and only after that did he grimace in pain. The pain was getting different. It was getting more sensitive, the infection must be getting stronger, it felt like his legs were in fire.

‟I got 'yer food.‟ The Sniper murmured and pushed a brown bowl of soup on Scout's lap, spilling some of it's contents, and making the plastic spoon swirl. Scout took a glance at the bowl, and he assumed it was leftovers of whatever garbage the team had been saving for him. The stew was so thick you couldn't identify any of the ingredients.

‟What's innit?‟ Scout asked warily, not sure if he dared to taste it, even if his stomach felt like it was famished.

‟It's a common broth, now eat it.‟ The Sniper growled and was taking a step backwards, but he sighed in annoyance as Scout didn't make a move to eat it. The poor guy was afraid that it was spiced with rat poison.

‟Well, if 'ye don't want it, I will help myself.‟ He said, and picked up the bowl. When Sniper took a generous amount of the broth on his spoon and was about to eat it, Scout was already getting regretful. He tried to lift his arm up to stop Sniper and to reach for the bowl, but the man was a fucking giant, he hardly reached the man's belt.

‟This broth here is damn delicious. I might just have it for myself.‟ The Sniper said with mouth full of food. ‟Hey, you were supposed to give it to me!‟ The Scout whined and swung his hand around as if trying to get the Sniper's attention, even if he knew the man had it already.

‟Nah, Learn to share sunny. You didn't want it in the first place.‟ The Sniper took another spoonful, and Scout hit the other on the shin, but was disappoint to find that his hand lacked strength. ‟Just give it to me.‟ The Sniper looked at the Scout with a raised brow. The other was a mess. A pitiful excuse of a man. His legs weren't even in a natural position, jutting in weird angles from the knees, and his lip was angry red and swollen. The kid even had bags under his eyes. Sniper looked at the other's hand, and he noticed that the skin on Scout's palm was torn, but the kid didn't even seem to notice. Sniper thought that he wouldn't either, if he was on the other's position.

‟Fine, fine, just be thankful that I did. The Medic wouldn't be this kind.‟ Sniper sneered as he hit the bowl on Scout's arm. The boy immediately scooped it closer to his body as if to shield it from the other. The Sniper only snorted at that and left to room with long strides.

Scout didn't mind. He was too busy stuffing his mouth with food. It was old, obviously leftovers, but it felt like a feast to a starved man. He got the food in his mouth in as big of a spoonful as he could, almost choking on his food, but he didn't care, he was starving.

Little did Scout know that things would only get worse after this.

His condition started to make a mad dash to the worse after that. No matter how much he slept he still felt tired all the time. Every day the Soldier paid him a not so friendly visit, and with every visit he was getting more and more tired and and he felt like surrendering. All his defenses were slowly falling, and he was losing his interest in trying to fight. He would rather just answer the other's questions than endure the beating. Not that he had much to say. He wasn't the trusted soldier, nor the liked storyteller in their group, and he was not worth questioning. Even he knew it, and he was sure that the RED Soldier was slowly understanding it too. Soldier got more and more irritated and snappy on every interrogation they held. Scout could almost see the thin line of amusement the man had from interrogating him wane. He was sure that soon his interest would snap, and he was as good as dead.

Scout hoped that whenever it came to that, the soldier would at least be quick about it. Scout usually ended up beaten on the best of the meetings. He did not want to see what the Soldier would do once he was of no use to him.

The time when he wasn't getting fed or interrogated by the REDs wasn't interesting either. He was usually too tired to even move, only resting in his hay pile like a unmoving corpse. The flies were getting in through the window and they wandered over him. Scout didn't care. Sometimes he just sat still and looked at them. The little fucker's were just eating sweat and dirt from his skin, shitting on his arms. They cleaned their tiny see through wings with their ugly hairy feet, and they flied away when Scout tensed in random pain. The flies were probably the most interesting thing in this place. No-one came to see him in his cell unless it was necessary, meaning that no-one ever came by. He was still too short to reach the window to see out. Sometimes he dragged himself over to the window so he could rest under it. He could feel the war sun on his face on a sunny warm day, and the cold rain that poured in his cell at the cold nights. Sometimes the water was just refreshing. It made him feel a tiny bet more alive, and then he could lick the moist off the concrete walls in his thirst.

Nowadays, he was simply too tired to lift his head up from the floor. He was too tired to even mind the pain, needless to say he did not feel like spending the little energy he had to swapping away the vermins on his body. The pain had dulled in to constant burning, but he no longer felt actual pain or stinging. On good days he could drag himself all the way across the floor, and not even feel his legs.

At the current moment he was sitting in his hay pile, listening to the water splosh on the sewers. He could also hear crickets outside the window. It was a hot day. He hated hot days. They were insufferably hot, making him sweat and feel more drained than usual. What was the worst was how the warmth made everything stink. It made the sewer stink like a vomit that was rotting inside an animal's corpse that had drowned in the damn sewer. And that wasn't even the worst smell. The worst smell must have been his own shit. He had managed to pee through the drains grate, but the grating was too small to fit his shit through. Sometimes he crawled over so he could try and push it though with his own hand, or with a little pit of his precious hay, but some of it always got left behind to dry and smell in the sun.

He was disgusted by it.

Actually, there were many things that he wasn't that disgusted by, even if he had previously thought so.

Of course he still was really disgusted and disturbed by the sight of his feet, but he still held hope that one day they could be fixed. Now he was only staring at his knees to see what the flies were doing there. The flies were summoned by the aromas in the air, and they had come to have a feast. There were many of them swarming on his knees, and it amused Scout. He couldn't feel any of them, but he still could see them, it was almost as frightening as it was amusing. The flies kept eating the dirt off it, and getting even more bacteria in it. The leg had gotten really bad. Everything below his knee had gone in to a really weird color. Everything below the knee was sickly red, almost orange, dead looking and stiff. His toes had stopped moving some days ago. The knees were worse though. The skin around the wound was very angry red, and the wound was soaking yellow and orange pus. Some parts of his legs, mainly around the wound area, were turning black and it stunk so bad that some of the RED refused to come bring him his dinner. Sniper still did it though, he always commented on it, but referred to his night in the buffalo corpse, and made sure that Scout understood that he was a ‟man enough to deal with this.‟.

Scout could not believe that he could be reduced to the point when he eventually would loathe his own two feet.

Seeing himself go in to such a pathetic state only made him wish for a sleep that he wouldn't awaken from until his leg was better and he was back in the BLU headquarters, sleeping in his own comfortable bed.

At the same time, on the other side of the prison cell were RED Medic, Sniper and Engineer, all discussing of their captive.

‟He has gotten very bad during this last week.‟ Sniper commented, and he even took his hat off to rest it against his chest. The poor kid was really getting in to bad shape there.

‟Jawohl. Hiz legs are dying.‟ Medic commented, but he didn't seem any different.

‟Medic, that poor son there is going to die on us!‟ The Engineer hissed, and he pulled his hardhat to the back to make sure it didn't cover his goggles and vision.

‟Dat is not my problem.‟ Medic went to the door and he opened the peephole. The Scout was sleeping, and the flies were flying all around his body, probably waiting for the kid to kick the bucket soon enough so they could all have a feast. Soldiers maggots were probably getting impatient. ‟Dat filthy BLU deserves no better.‟

‟That filthy BLU could be on 'ya medical table, getting a part in you medical experiments, and don't 'ya even say that 'ya didn't consider it.‟ The Sniper grunted as he gasped his hat so hard it wrinkled.

‟Not to mention, I want him too, but not for medicine.‟ The Engineer putted in, and the Medic laughed. ‟Ha, you only want him for your stupid robot experiment, let me tell you, it iz not going to work!‟ The Engineer looked offended, and he hit the medic on his shoulder. ‟I know it will. I just need someone to test my theory on! The drawings are nearly complete!‟ The medic only shook his head. ‟You and your drawingz. What doez it take for you to notice, that you are only making those scribbles in theory, and not always will it work in real life.‟ The Engineer looked like he was boiling, and hissed to the other so low, yet so loud that the saliva hit Medic on the face. ‟It will work, and I will prove it. You just wait and see.‟

The Sniper had gotten enough of this and came in between, separating them both before a fight could emerge. It had been like this for a long while. The Medic and the Engineer obviously had very different views on things, and now they had started fighting over the corpses to boot. They both needed guinea bigs for their own little experiments that obviously crossed paths with the other's believes. ‟Stop it, you two. You are both acting like immature wankers!‟

‟Who is being immature!‟ Came a fourth noise out of nowhere, and all three turned around to look at the Soldier. He had probably come to interrogate the poor soul some more.

‟These two are!‟ Sniper commented before neither of the two could defend themselves.

‟Quiet you bushman! I demand some respect.‟ The Medic said, but the Engineer laughed at his face. ‟Do you now, you sick bastard.‟ And before another fight could begin, the Soldier yelled to get all their attention.

‟How is the hostage?‟ The Soldier asked, and Medic was immediately telling him about his very infected legs. Telling how they were slowly rotting away, and how the infection would soon spread to the Scout's entire body, killing him. ‟Dying is what he goddamn is!‟ The Engineer yelled, trying to get the others to listen to reason.

‟Just tell me Soldier, has the kid been of any use lately? I bet he has ran out of information to give, just wasting our time in that sell.‟ The Engineer hissed, and the Soldier nodded hesitantly. ‟I'm disappointed to see that you are correct.‟ The other said, but Soldier had been too caught up with his new found position as a torturer and interrogator, that he had not cared. ‟That Bloody BLU rat should be killed, he is a waste of space!‟

‟I suggest, that you let me have him.‟ The Engineer said, but the medic came in. ‟Nain, he iz mein! I want him for medicine!‟ He yelled, and Sniper slammed his palm to his forehead. There they would go again.

‟I want to experiment his body so I can prepare a cure for cases like this!‟ The Medic explained, but the engineer pushed him off, trying to get the Soldier on his side, after all, everything went by the Soldier's approval. ‟Unfair! Medic has had every single corpse we find in the field, I want just one who is alive!‟

‟That kid is not going to live much longer, you wont have time to do anything on him.‟ The Sniper reminded, sounding very annoyed by their pitiful quarreling.

‟I just want him alive, that doesn't mean I want him in one peace.‟ The Engineer grinned, making the Medic grin too. It meant that there was still hope for him.

‟Engineer, would you accept my suggestion that we share. I want everything that is below knee level. It will be a clean cut a bit over the knees, almost from the halfway of tight.‟ The Medic was overjoyed. He wouldn't need that boy, he would have had to kill him off anyways. He could have all he needed from the legs. ‟Deal.‟ The Engineer said victoriously, and the two shook hands.

‟Now will 'ya two wankers go get that sorry sob outta there?‟ The Sniper hissed, as the others nodded.

‟At least that BLU fucker wont be any information to rat about us to his pitiful team. Better yet, that lightweight is dead to his team already! A goddamn castaway he is! Engineer will be in charge of the BLU rat. He will not be welcome in the base, and I want you to keep close eye on him. I don't want you to leave him from you sight, or it will be me who you respond to!‟ The Soldier threatened, and the Engineer knew full well to take it seriously, and to the heart. ‟Positive.‟

‟Gud. We have some work to do, people to cut, my bone saw is in good sharp!‟ The Medic laughed madly, and led the group in to the cell, banging the door loudly open.

The door slam awoke Scout, and he jolted up. There were many REDs coming in to his cell, which was very unusual, and thus very, very scary. They had the Medic with them, and the man was smiling like the devil himself, scaring the shit out of Scout.

‟What is going on.‟ The Scout mumbled, being mad at himself how even he himself could hear the fear in his own voice.

‟You are coming with is.‟ The Soldier explained, and in two steps he was already standing by Scout's hay pile. The man took a very firm hold of Scout's slim forearm, and the grip was so tight Scout was sure he would bruise. The hold hurt.

‟Sorry kid, this wont be 'ya lucky day.‟ The Sniper murmured as he took a firm hold of Scout's other arm. The BLU tried to hit and bite the others, anything to save himself, but he didn't have enough strength. He barely could challenge Soldier when he was healthy, he had no chance in his fatigued state.

‟What are you doing, let me be, no!‟ The Scout yelled, and he tried to fight back as much as he could, but he only got a firm hit from Soldier, silencing him effectively.

‟Take him to mein hozpital.‟ The medic instructed, and the others started to drag the Scout's body away, causing the other to scream in pain for the whole way. The little feeling he had left in his legs was telling that he was feeling the worst pain in his life. As his head was looking on the ground, he could see how the ground was tearing off small peaces of his kin, and how his legs were bleeding badly. ‟It hurts!‟ He howled, but no-one listened.

The men silently dragged him all the way to the Medic's supposed to be hospital. ‟No, don't take me there!‟ The Scout yelled. He had heard spook stories from the spy, saying that the RED Medic took in innocent people, tested on them, and they never got to see the light of the day again. He had always been scared of those stories. He was fucking horrified.

‟No!‟ He yelled, but the others just took a better grip of his twitching body and threw him on one of the beds that was reserved for patients. It was the Sniper who tied the Scout on the bed with belts. ‟You will be needing some restraints if you know what is good for you.‟ The Bushman mumbled.

The Medic laughed a little, and hummed the words ‟Is good for you.‟ as if he was imitating the Sniper. The man went to get his things, but Scout was horrified as he saw the man pull out his bone saw. He was sure that the man would dismember him.

‟Oh thiz zure will be for your good. You should be thankful, it's either thiz, or you die. I sure am thankful myself.‟ The Medic cackled, and he laid the bone saw above Scout's knee a little bit under the half way of tight, and Scout tried to fight against the restraints with all that he had got, but with futile attempts.

‟Wait, won't you even sedate him?‟ The Engineer tried to put in, but the Medic had already started the procedure. "Az if he could feel after his leg haz gone to necrosis."

And did Scout scream. The Boy yelled so loud, that he had never been so loud before. Not even the pain he had felt during the first few days in the cell compared to this, and he was disappointed to notice that his leg was fully able to feel the pain in all of it's potential.

‟Just keep screaming.‟ The Medic laughed in sickly sadist way, making the Scout want for at least a little bit faster death than this one, because he was going to die.

It was the combination of pain, blood loss and exhaustion, but Scout couldn't endure even to the halfway of the procedure. He could see how the Medic threw his severed leg to the side, but by that point his vision was already dimming. He didn't care, and then he fainted in to darkness with absolutely nothing in it. No thoughts, no dreams, no nothing. Not even nightmares.


	3. Chapter 3

Scout's life had been saved on the last minute. Medic had told that Scout's infection had actually spread all over his body, and that he had been only a couple of hours away from dying. Medic had to clean and cure the poor boy thoroughly with the aid of his medigun, and it had taken quite a while to get the boy stabilized.

Engineer remembered the long hours they stayed at the clinic. He was glad that the poor kid had fainted as soon as he had, because seeing your own limbs being cut off you like that wasn't for anyone's eyes.

Engineer was glad that the kid resumed to be unconscious. He remembered how he had resulted in to pleading for medic to spare him a pill. A Pill that would make sure The Scout wouldn't wake up until the next day. The boy must be in horrible pain.

The Boy's legs were now wrapped up in clean white bandages, but the Engineer knew exactly what those legs looked under all that wrapping. Medic had burned the wounds to prevent the bleeding and infections. Scout's legs looked like red mess, scarred, scabbed and very raw, with occasional yellow and purple bruising.

The Medic had given him clear instructions and medication for Scout, and Engineer had listened gravely.

"Make zure that he doesn't use his legz for anyzing during the upcoming week. If I find out he haz torn his legz beyond my help, I will euthanize him." Engineer didn't question Medic's word.

"I will remember that." Engineer picked Scout up. He had expected him to weight less, but he was momentarily taken aback by how difficult Scout was to carry. Scout didn't have any knees so he couldn't carry him on his arms properly. The Boy's legs kept slipping off from his hold, so he had to carry him like a child. He had his right arm under Scout's bum, and the left one was on his back to make sure he didn't fall off. He kept the boy tight against his chest, and he tried to push the kid's head somewhere where it wouldn't drag or cover his view. He tried to keep the boy's head resting against his shoulder, but occasionally Scout's head would fall off. The boy was a true rag doll when sedated.

"I will get him out off your eyes now." The Soldier had made it very clear that he didn't want any blue scum in his base. Engineer decided that it would be best for everyone if the Scout wasn't seen by too many people. He would take him to his trailer.

The trailer was parked behind the base, close to the junkyard and an old barn which Engineer had claimed as his workshop long time ago. The landscape wasn't pretty. It was pretty much wasteland everywhere you could see, except for that huge towering pile of waste and discarded junk you could see further away.

Next to all that nothingness his trailer looked small and insignificant. He had set a small camp in front. He had a small camp fire, and four chairs surrounding it. The chairs were the cheapest kind of garden or travel chairs you could find. He had two white foldable garden chairs, and two camping chairs, made from firm fabric and flimsy plastic legs, that could also be easily folded to fit in small space.

The door to the trailer was on the right side, near the head. He managed to open the door with Scout in his arms, and even if the doorway was really narrow, he managed to fit them both through.

In his small trailer he had a dining table on the right, at the head of the trailer. The table could be converted in to double bed, but it was mainly used as a workspace. The table was covered with tools and machine parts that he had been tinkering with. He wouldn't say that the table was a complete mess, but more like perfectly organized to suit his needs.

On the left from the door there was a small kitchen area with cupboards, small stove that worked with gas, a small sink and a tiny refrigerator with nearly nothing inside.

Across the tiny kitchen was a bigger closet for clothes, and a bathroom and toilet mix, which was as luxuriously big as one meter for each side, covering the area of one square meter.

If you went further down the narrow path that separated the toilet from the kitchen, there was a thin folding screen separating the rest of the trailer from the sleeping area.

In that said area there was a tiny table with chairs on each side of the table on the same side with the kitchen. The table and chairs combination could be converted in to a single bed, but the engineer had used the said area as a eating table every once in a while when it was too bad weather to eat outside. He didn't like being scooped inside his tiny trailer too much.

On the other side of the path, opposite the convertible table and chairs mix there was another bed, that Engineer had been using as his main sleeping area. The sheets had not been chanced in a while, and the cover had been tossed haphazardly on the foot end of the bed. The pillow was worn, and completely flat and hard after years of use, and the pillow case had yellowish spots from sweat on it. The Engineer had not found too much time for changing bed wear lately. Over his bed there was another bed, a top bed, that had never been in use. The area left between the bed and the roof was too small for Engineer, the stairs up there were small and flimsy, and the railing that prevented people sleeping up there from falling was making sure that the small spot from where you could climb in was designed for kids under twelve years old. The whole top bed must have been the most unpractical invention he had never seen, which had resulted in to the top bed being used as a storage for random junk.

Between the convertible table and chair mix and Engineers bed was a tiny night table.

Engineer laid Scout down on his bed since he didn't have any better place for him as of yet. He made the kid comfortable, and only then did he notice how annoying his bed's location was, because he had to crouch down so he wouldn't hit his head on the top bed since it was so low. One day he would remove the damn disgrace.

Engineer started removing Scout from his clothing. The kids clothes were in such a mess that he felt compelled to throw them in the trash immediately, but decided against it. Maybe the Scout would like to keep the clothes. He took the rags in to the laundry bin, deciding that he would wash them first thing tomorrow.

While he was taking away Scout's clothes, he fetched some new clothes for him. He didn't have anything else than his own clothes to spare him, and that would have to do.

He dressed Scout in his spare boxers and T-shirt he found, and he was amused by how huge all his clothes looked on him. He himself might of have been short, but he was more sturdy than the Scout was, and all his clothes seemed loose on him. The boxers barely stayed on their place, and the hems of the boxers almost covered the stubs that were left from the poor boys feet.

Engineer thought that this was as good as it would get, and he then started to convert the table and chairs mix in to a bed. He would replace the Scout on it, so the other wouldn't have to sleep in his messy bed.

It didn't take long for the bed to be made and the Scout to be moved. He fetched the kid a new set of covers, and let the kid rest.

The engineer sighed after the long day, and decided to go to sleep as well. He put his goggles and hardhat on the night table, and discarded his clothes on the floor. He slept with only his boxers on, because it tended to get hot in this climate.

At first the Engineer wasn't sure if he could fall asleep with the other boy around. It was gruesome to remember how he had screamed in pain just hours ago. Today had been heavier than any other day had felt in a while. He had seen a lot of pain in the battlefield, and seeing that had dulled his reaction to the Scout's case, and the sleep claimed him faster than he had expected. The sleep took Engineer to where most of his inventions got started at, and there he was thinking over his plans for the young man.

Scout woke up feeling groggy and tired. He felt totally out of it, disoriented, and the light that shone from the window annoyed him. He hadn't noticed the comfortable covers he was wrapped in, because he had awoken in the most annoying feeling. He felt how his shins were burning, and he reached down to rub them, only to find in horror that he had no shins. How could something hurt if he didn't have that body part, oh god he didn't have legs, this is a nightmare. Scout threw the covers off him and he saw with his owns eyes the stubs that were left of his legs. He grasped the legs in his hands to feel them, to confirm that this wasn't just some joke, but actually real. He could feel the pain from his too tight hold on the not too long ago operated legs. Scout screamed in horror. He was in shock, he was horrified. He couldn't think coherently. Oh god, he couldn't run anymore, Jesus he couldn't even walk ever again, he was nothing. His team would never take him back now, he wouldn't ever get another job, his mother would abandon him, his brothers would tease him, and he would die on the streets. Scout couldn't hold off the despair as he yelled and cried, waking the Engineer up with his yelling.

Engineer jolted up as he had not expected such wake up, startled at first for the sudden noise, but soon realizing what was going on.

"Scout!" Engineer yelled as he realized what was happening. He turned around fast, and rouse up to comfort the other, hitting his head on the top bed. "Breath, relax, stop panicking!" Engineer exclaimed, not sure how to comfort the other except than try to hold him in place, trying to prevent him from causing any damage on himself.

"Don't you touch me! Get away from me, leave me alone!" Scout yelled, and tried to hit Engineer as hard as he could. "You monster, you fucking bastard!" He kept yelling, and he managed to land a good punch on Engineers chin, causing the other to recoil.

"Calm down you brat!" Engineer growled as he tried to get a hold from the other's hands. He was glad the other had no legs so he couldn't kick him, making it easier for Engineer to wrestle the Scout.

"You fucker, they took my fucking legs!" Scout yelled with tears in her eyes, and he tugged and yanked as hard as he could, but once Engineer had gotten hold of his hands he couldn't get them free. Engineer pushed his hands on the bed so Scout couldn't move at all, and the situation dawned on him. He was trapped.

Suddenly he stopped struggling and went completely limb, just crying and screaming.

"I hate you!" He managed to get through his sniffles, as Engineer Scooped the Scout in his arms.

"Sush, it's okay, it will get better, you are still alive, You can heal." Engineer tried to form comforting words, and he knew that no matter what he said, his words couldn't make things any better.

"Don't touch me, this is all your fault!" The Scout cried, and refused to look at his legs, feeling disgusted by the sight of them.

"Listen, it's not my fault." Engineer tried, but Scout didn't have it. "No, because it's all of you REDs fault! You did this to me!" Scout yelled, he couldn't even stand looking at the engineer. He hated him.

"Listen, you were sick. Your legs were practically rotting! The infection had spread all over your body, we managed to heal you the best we could, but there was nothing we could do to your legs. If we hadn't cut them off, you'd be dead by now." Engineer tried to reason with no success. "I'm better off dead! I'm a fucking Scout, I'm nothing without my legs!"

"Don't say things like that! Everyone's better alive than death!" The Engineer snapped at the Scout. "I wish you would see that too. Now stop crying about you misery, and do something about it." The Engineer hissed, and pushed Scout so that he was sitting on his own, leaning against the wall.

"But what can I do, I'm a fucking prisoner here." Scout mumbled, and felt awkward. He tried to look away to hide his face, not wanting to seem weak.

"You aren't a prisoner anymore, merely a person who has to be under constant watch and not allowed to go anywhere." Scout didn't find that funny. A cage was a cage, no matter what size. "Whatever." Scout mumbled, and closed his eyes. Not wanting to talk or move anymore.

"Come on, don't be like that. Only the time will tell what will happen. Who knows, maybe everything will get back to normal. Let's get you ready and something to eat." Engineer suggests, but Scout doesn't say a thing. He doesn't feel like doing anything. Engineer just sighs and pulls the Scout in his arms as he stood up.

"Let go of me!" Scout yells, but notices that his body has gone weak after all the adrenaline has drained out after his previous outburst. His legs feel very stiff, and his sore all over. His still sick from fatigue, and he notes that he barely has any strength. "Where are you taking me!" Scout bursts, and gasps Engineer with the little strength he has, afraid that the other might drop him.

"I'm going to wash you and redo your bandages." Engineer mumbles, and Scout tries to fight back as Engineer takes him in to the tiny bathroom, sitting the other on the toilet seat. "I can do it by myself!"

Engineer had his hand on Scout's chest and pushed the other against the wall. "Like hell you can, now settle down!" Engineer growls and starts to unwrap the bandage, and Scout turns his head away immediately.

"What does it look like?" Scout asks shyly, not wanting to see for himself.

"Ugly. The skin is red, scarred and slightly bleeding. You should be careful while you are still healing." Engineer scolds, and shakes his head. The episode in the morning couldn't have been prevented, he guessed, but he still hopes that it hadn't happened.

"Is there any chance that I can ever... That I don't have to... Sit in the wheelchair?" Scout gulps, and takes a shy look at his legs, wincing as he sees the gruesome cut. His legs had been cut off from over his knee.

"I don't know. Take off your shirt." Engineer mumbles, and starts working with Scout's pants. "Hey, a little privacy here!" Scouts retorts, and tries to push Engineers hands off. "As if you have any parts that I don't." Engineer laughs, and strips the clothes off the kid, and throws them among the bandages outside the toilet. Engineer prepares the shower, and starts washing the boy, carefully avoiding the eyes so he wouldn't get soap in them.

Engineer let Scout use the soap, as he made sure to shower the other everywhere, even making sure that the other was clean from behind his ears and under his armpits.

"When you get your strength back and you can be trusted around, I might let you do things alone in the future." Engineer explains as he rubs the Scout with a towel.

"I look forwards to that." The Scout says, and gladly accepts the new clothes engineer got him. He got a red shirt with black pants that reached way past his stubs of legs. He was thankful that he got a belt as well, or the pants would never stay up.

"I trust you can get that shirt on by yourself." The engineer says as he finishes wrapping up the new bandages, and starts fiddling with Scout's legs, trying to get the pants on him.

"Hey, I don't need no-one to dress me up!" Scout tries to push Engineer off, only to get his hand slapped off. "Dress." The engineer presses on the word, and gives Scout a look that clearly adds "or else" to the sentence.

"You aren't wearing you goggles." Scout notes, and engineer just nods. Of course he wasn't, he had just woken up. He didn't have much time to put them on. "You look weird without them." Engineer just grunted, not quite expecting that answer, but he wasn't expecting pleasantries either.

"Noted. Could you now please put on your shirt?" Engineer lifts Scout up so he can pull the pants all the way up, and then lowers Scout back down to sit on the plastic toilet seat. "You are not wearing a shirt either, why should I?" Engineer lifts his head up to look at the kid.

"I will. I just haven't had much time to do anything because you keep taking all my attention." Engineer is finally pleased to see Scout put the shirt on. Scout looks a little silly with his clothes on. Scout has a lot taller back than he has, thus the shirt hem reaches the waist of the pants only barely, and when the kid lifts his hands, Engineer can see the fuzz of hair on his belly. He refuses to pay attention to that. The shirt is otherwise too big for Scout, because they can both agree that Engineer is more broader build than the thin Scout. The pants are the worst though. With the belt that Scout has now adjusted on, the pants can be held up, but the excess pant leg is hanging on the ground uselessly. The pants cover Scout's legs, but Engineer thinks that it would be for the better if he wound a way to either cut the pants to a shorter size, find the Scout a pair of shorts, or roll the pant legs up some.

"Wait a moment." Engineer says as he goes to get some rubber bands from the table. He doesn't really expect Scout to wander anywhere with broken legs, but he said it anyways out of habit. The table is full of parts and all kinds of things he has been tinkering with, but he can find a couple of rubber bands from the mix. He takes them with him as he goes to Scout. He rolls up his pant legs, and tightens them in a bun under Scout's legs.

"That will have to do for now." Engineer states, and he tries to pull on the knots to see if they will fall apart easily, but his satisfied with the hold.

"I'll carry you to the kitchen." Engineer states, not leaving Scout much room to argue as he pulls the Scout up and carries him to sit on a chair next to the table with all the parts in it.

"Try not to mess things up, I will dress myself." Engineer says, and he goes to the other end of the trailer to put on his clothes.

It's silent for merely a a while until Scout starts to ask him questions. "Where am I exactly?"

The Engineer didn't feel like hiding Scout any of the information. He deserved to know, since he was pretty much sentenced to spent the rest of his life here, unless they somehow managed to get away from the 2fort. "You are in my trailer. At the outskirts of the RED base."

"You have a trailer? And why am I not dead?" Scout insists, and Engineer sighs as he pulls on his shirt. He puts his hard hat on his head, and holds his goggles in his hands, not putting them on yet. "Yeah, I have a trailer. It's not as good, big or expensive as Sniper's van, but it's better than the rooms they hand out at 2fort. Engineers to to sit on the other side of the table, facing Scout.

"And you are alive because I saved you. Is that good enough?" Engineer asks, and he hopes that it is. He wouldn't like to tell the kid how he had to fight for his carcass over medic, and how he had to convince the Soldier that he was actually gaining some profit by having Scout over. The Soldier was expecting him to do research on him. Scout needed to know none of that.

"Why would you save me?" Scout asks and he looks kind of stunned. He obviously wasn't expecting any RED to feel any kind of mercy on him.

"I didn't think that you deserved any of that. I wanted to do something to stop that , and I did." The Engineer says, and he means it. He was a good guy, after all. "Besides, The Sniper get nagging at me about you all the time. I thought that this would shut him up." Engineer grumbled. What he said was true. Since Sniper as assigned as the one to bring food to the Scout, he hand unintended taken interest on the kid. "I was mad for the others, taking a kid, and just locking you up like an animal. It was clear that you had nothing to tell them, and they wanted to euthanize you. But I guess that's war for you." Engineer mumbles as he rubs the top of his head, minding the hardhat. "I'm sorry for your legs." Engineer finishes, and he wont look the Scout in the eye. The Scout says nothing. Engineer kind of doesn't expect him to forgive him, so he doesn't press it. "Are you hungry?" He asks instead.

Scout rises his head from the floor he had been looking at, and nods. "Famished." He says, and Engineer gets up to make food. The Scout is awfully quiet for the whole duration of the cooking, and Engineer is too nervous to say anything. He understands that Scout is mad, sad, and if it is possible for such an energetic kid to be depressed, he probably was.

The Engineer decided on making a soup with potatoes and vegetables, and he pours Scout an generous amount of the soup on his cup. The kid has been in an awful diet lately, and he thinks that he deserves a good filling.

They eat in silence, but the Scout seems to be either truly famished, or getting a little better, because his wolfing down his food, even getting seconds when Engineer offers him.

"Your welcome." Engineer says as he gathers the bowls back and puts them on top of a pile of dishes that is growing in the sink.

"Thanks." Scout mumbles, and leans back, not sure about what to do now.

Engineer sits down for a while, and and clears his throat to get Scouts attention. "I would like to give you some rules to follow. Nothing big, but that's why I expect you to abide them." Engineer says, and he pushes some of the tools and parts away from the table, just enough to lay his elbows on the table. Scout makes a sound that to Engineer sounds like him refusing such rules immediately. Engineer doesn't care, he presses the importance of the rules.

"I had to go to quite the depths to have you, and I'm not letting the others have a reason to stand against it. Rule number one, don't ever go to 2fort, accompanied or otherwise." Engineer points a finger up, to emphasize himself. "Rule number two, don't ever talk to anyone. They are probably trying to agitate you to have a reason to get rid of you. Do not fall for their tricks." Engineer shakes his head as he remembers how some of his teammates seemed to really want to get rid of the scum in their cells, whereas some just wanted to have him for show. He hoped they would never have to get back to that point. "Number three, my van and yard are now yours to use, but don't wander too much, it's desert everywhere, you wont last." Engineer looks at the Scout, who looks like he is about to start revolting, but before he can say anything, Engineer puts in. "So basically, as long as you are not in anyone's way, you can do whatever you wish, but you are to not to try to communicate with your team in any way, you have to get back at this trailer by 6 pm, you are not to participate in any fights, but I expect you to do some simple chores and to be here at meal times. Is that clear?"

The Scout nods, and mumbles an Okay.

"The last, and the most important rule is that you will have to be under constant supervision by me. If the others find you alone, they will either punish you, tease you, or in rare cases, kill you at sight. Don't take that risk." Engineer stares at Scout's eyes, making sure he understood. "Watching you all the time was one of the rules set for me to have you." Engineer mumbles, and he lifts up his goggles to put them on. "Also, I wont allow you to droop all day. I understand that losing your legs was horrible, and it takes time to get used on, but it has already happened, and it's not reversible." Scout looks at him in what seems to be like horror, and a little bit of anger, but Engineer knows that it's sorrow. Scout probably only now realizes how permanent his loss actually is. Scout looks like he could fall in peaces, but Engineer comes up with something to do quickly. "I wont allow you to have time to swell in your self pity. We are going out." Engineer steps up and walks over to Scout. He reaches to take him up, and Scout is fighting back. "I don't want to go anywhere, let me stay! I want to be alone!" Engineer fights Scout's hand off and carries him out of the trailer. The moment he opens the door a bright outside sun shines in to the van, and the bright light hurts their eyes. Engineer Lays Scout on a garden chair, and Goes to fetch a wheelbarrow from behind the trailer.

"What are you doing?" Scout says, and he sounds a little mad. Engineer only laughs and stands straight and points at the wheelbarrow. "You weren't expecting me to carry you about for the rest of my life?" He says and he goes to pick Scout up, and Scout refuses once again. "You seriously can't expect me to spent time in that! Who knows what has been in it!" Scout feels helpless as engineer easily fights him down, and carries him to the wheelbarrow, dropping him in it ungracefully.

"Nope, but you will come with me as I scavenge through the junk yard. Maybe we can find your majesty something more suitable." He laughs, and he walks behind the wheelbarrow, and he starts pushing Scout about. "Yeah, you better! I hope there is a fucking throne so I can sit on my majestic ass as you wheel me about!" Scout yells, and twists his body awkwardly to be able to look at the engineer.

"I can't promise you a throne, but maybe we will find a well preserves car seat, or a sofa. Although, having a sofa with wheels sounds ridiculous. You are not having a sofa." Engineer laughed.

"Hey, don't knock it if you haven't tried it!" Scout points out, making Engineer shake his head. "There wont be enough space in the trailer for you to wheel about in your armchair."

"Aww, that's totally not cool." Engineer just smiles at him. "Well, maybe we will find a nice little padded chair with a broken leg, it's not like your wheelchair needs legs on it."

"Yeah. But it better be damn comfortable, after all, I'm probably spending most of my time in it." Scout points, but Engineer smiles and rubs his shoulder. "I'm glad that you are managing so well."

Scout doesn't say anything. He stays silent for a while. He would want to mope and pout for all eternity, but something about Engineer makes him feel like he needs to outfit him. And talking has always been one of Scout's strong points. "I hate you."

"Well, If it makes you feel any better, I hate you too. You wrecked my shit, remember?"


	4. Chapter 4

Scout had been keeping an eye to his surroundings while Engineer pushed him around in his wheelbarrow. They were heading to a what seemed like a fantasy castle in the sunrise, but when they got there, the fantasy castle revealed its true form, a junk yard. In the sun all the random junk pointing and jutting out from the piles had looked like pipes and vents and whatnot from some other surreal reality. As they said, things aren't always what they look like. Not that Scout was too disappointed. He remembered junkyards from his childhood. His family couldn't afford a home from the good neighborhood, so they lived on the outskirts of Boston, and Scout remembered how he and his brothers used to play around without the grownups knowing any wiser. Of course their mother had forbidden them to play there, but who ever did what their parents told them. Scout remembered how his brothers had once found an discarded old mattress. They had torn out the springs, and tied them on their legs, and just like in the cartoons, they played that they had super speed when the springs were on them. In reality they were none the faster, but the springs made it feel like they were. Not that Scout would have needed them in the first place, he had always been faster than his brothers. He had been fastest of them all, but not anymore. The good days were past him now.

Engineer took Scout in to the middle of the junkyard where piles of junk were towering around them. Scout was awed by the amount of sheer crap there was. Everything was old, worn, and falling in to pieces. There even were discarded rusty vehicles, with torn seats and broken parts. It was obvious that Engineer had already searched and must likely found all the parts that could still be used somehow.

"I would welcome you to help me search, but I really can't let you crawl in this waste. You'd soil your bandages, so would you just mind hollering me if you see anything worthwhile?" The Engineer said as he found a good place to leave Scout. The Wheelbarrow was now safely grounded on even ground after a small hill. It wasn't the best place for searching stuff, but it was better than nothing. "Sure." Scout mumbles, and tries to lift himself up to be able to lean on a side of the wheelbarrow. The sun is still shining brightly, so Scout has to cover his eyes to be able to look around.

Scout's looking doesn't go too well though, because His mind keeps wandering to depression. No matter what he does, he simply keeps reverting back to the thoughts about how many things he used to love he now can only dream of.

"Hey Scout, do you see a bike anywhere? I'm pretty sure there was one somewhere." Engineer mumbles, as he tries to pull some junk from the pile of waste, snapping Scout back to reality. Scout quickly gazes over the junk piles, spotting a carrier of the bicycle jutting out from a pile of rusty metal kegs.

"Yeah, I think there is a bike right there. I doubt that you can dig it out thou'." He says as he points to a rusty bike that's falling apart. It doesn't have wheels, but Scout recognized the handles. The bike was discarded in to pile that seemed to consist mostly out of composting leftovers of food stuffed in various kegs.

"I meant, do you see a bike with wheels? I think that wheels from a bike would be a best way to go with wheels for your wheelchair." Engineer yells at him after he had paid a glance at where Scout had been pointing.

"Yeah, good point." He says, and starts to look about.

They search for parts that could be used for the wheelchair for some hours, finding suitable chairs, and some not so suitable chairs which could be used to fix up the other chair if needed. They had found bike wheels, even though the rubber needed to be fixed, since it was obvious that the air had escaped them. They even had found a proper seat too, even if Engineer refused to let Scout have the mice eaten, but otherwise fine armchair. But that didn't matter. They had found a fine chair with metal base. Engineer had liked the fact, because it would make the soldering of the wheels in to the chair easy. The chair had an ugly gray leather covering, that was dirty all over, and torn out beyond fixing. The chair was obviously worn, but it was still mostly functional, fine chair. Engineer had allowed Scout to have extra padding for the chair thou'. They had removed some of the pillows from a sofa to take them apart and chew them on the chair. After that, the chair would have better colored, grayish blue cover, with thick, soft padding so that it would be comfortable to sit on. Scout approved of that.

It was almost noon when they decided to gather their findings and get back to the trailer for some dinner before they started working on the wheelchair.

Engineer piled all the parts they had found on the wheelbarrow with Scout, being careful not to cover the other in the junk, but making sure that Scout could hold the stuff so they wouldn't fall off. Once they were both sure they could gather them all in one trip, they slowly started to make their way back to the trailer as Engineer pushed the wheelbarrow.

They ate the meal while discussing eagerly about the wheelchair, and they laid out their parts of the work. Scout would sew the new padding, and Engineer would solder the wheels. Once they were ready they would put the whole thing together. Scout was glad that he was given a distraction from moping. Of course he was horrified for the loss of his legs, but he had never been the moping kind.

Engineer had carried Scout out to the campfire next to the van, and sat him down on one of the garden chairs. Engineer had lightened the fire for him, so he wouldn't get cold. It might have been a nice and warm summer, but the nights were cold and they kind of tended to take you by surprise by how fast the temperature dropped.

"I hope that you have all you need here. I'm going to go to the workshop to quickly put this together, I trust you will be fine." The Engineer says as he hands the Scout a needle and yarn.

"I'm fine, no need to babysit me, I'm not a child." Scout yaps, and Engineer shrugs. "Holler if you need anything." He says, and he picks up the metal parts. They had taken apart the chair, so that Engineer had the metal legs of the chair, and Scout had the seat and the backrest. This way they could both work easily on their own task. "Just go." Scout waves his hand in a "good riddance" kind of way, and the Engineer leaves, letting Scout to his own task.

At first Scout considers escaping, but He knew that he had no strength in him to made it across the waste land. After he has exhausted himself with plans of escape that wont work even inside his head, he gives up, and once again drifts in to the sad thoughts of his grim future. He almost loses himself in to it, but as he accidentally sticks himself with the needle, his awoken back in to reality. He should not give up this early. He picks up the chair peace, and starts working on it absentmindedly. He decides that if he were to escape, he should at least have something to aid him travel.

So Scout starts to sew. He had never been any good in it, and he never would. He was taught how to do the most basic of stitch in junior school, but he had mostly forgotten everything. He had ended up doing weak loops close to each other to be able to attach the padding in to the already existing padding of the chair. It sure didn't look any good, but at least it did it's job.

"You know, you are absolutely rubbish at that." Scout jolted his head up to look who had said that, because it sounded nothing like the Engineer. Scout went completely rigid as he saw the Sniper in front of him, carrying a small fawn on his back. The poor animal had a shot wound on it's head, and it's throat had been slashed open. What little Scout knew about hunting was, that the animal had to be killed quick, which was probably reason for the deep cut.

"I see that the Engineer was serious about having you as his pet. Good for you." The Sniper mumbles as he throws the fawn on a garden chair next to Scout. Scout looks at the poor dead animal in in confusion. He knew that Snipers had hobbies, and he knew that fawns made delicious steaks, but he had no idea why the Sniper was bringing the thing over. Was he trying to intimidate him?

"I'm surprised that the Engineer has already left you by yourself. I thought that the agreement was that you were free pray if left unattended." The Sniper laughed roughly, as he readjusted the fawn on his back. Scout can sense a faint air of intimidation from the other man, but for once in his life he decides to remain silent.

"What are you doing there? You took up a hobby from doing the females role in here? Going to fix Engineers socks next?" Sniper teases as he sits on a garden chair next to Scout, leaving Scout sitting between an dickhead of a sniper, and a dead animal. Scout looks sourly at the Sniper, trying to pass him a look that would deliver him the message "Fuck off.".

"You have nothing to glare about, you better behave out here, or you might regret it. Now show me that damn thing." Sniper practically tears the chair Scout had been working on from his hands, and looks at it judgmentally. "This is absolute crap mate." He says as he picks up his kukri, and slices all the stitching off, undoing all Scout's hard work. Scouts makes a yelp under his breath and he tries to snatch the chair back, but Sniper slaps his hands off, and shoves Scout back on his chair, almost making scout fall.

"Just let me do it, you little wanker can't do anything right." The sniper fight the needle from Scout, and sews a little "Stitch, stitch, loop, and tighten the knot." He says and does the sewing. "It's not that hard, stitch, knot, tighten, stitch knot tighten, repeat." He says and goes on for a small while, making a nice, even and thick sew, that looks totally better than Scout's original sew. The Sniper continues the sew for about ten centimeters, showing Scout how to do it, before he throws the chair back to Scout.

"I trust that even you can do such a simple task properly." The Sniper mumbles, and adjusts his shirt. Scouts notes that the shirt has been fixed several times, and it's obvious that it's Sniper's handiwork. Sniper may know what his doing, but he should fix his attitude. Scout frowns at him, not going to show the man any gratitude.

"Fine, be a brat, where is the Engineer?" The Sniper stands up, and sheathes his kukri.

"Have you lost your ability to talk along your ability to walk? Where is Engineer, his supposed to keep an eye on you." Sniper lowers his sunglasses to stare Scout right in the eye, and Scout wants to retort. He wants to yell at him, and he is sure that he pretty much hates the Aussie in front of him. How dare he come here and start picking on a handicapped person. Scout is turning red with anger, but he tries to stay silent. The engineer had warned him of exactly this. The Sniper was probably here only to intimidate him, and if he was successful, probably shoot him just like he had shot that fawn.

"I see. Engineer was probably smart enough to tell you to keep your mouth shut around here. Be sure to remember that, it might save your life one day. Now, point me where he is." The Sniper says, and scowls as he stretches his legs. The man is freakishly tall, and sickeningly thin, With personality with nothing to praise. Scout only shot the best death glare he got at the man, and pointed at the Engineer's shed where he was welding.

"Figures." The Sniper snaps, and leaves the fawn on the garden chair as he walks to the shed, taking ridiculously long steps to get there. Well, with so long legs, it would look retarded if the man took tiny steps.

Scout huffs as he curses the Sniper. For that little while that he had to put up with the man, he had already decided that he didn't like him. He was full of himself, and a jerk. Scout guessed that all the REDs were so, based on his previous observations, but then he remembered the RED engineer, and he reconsidered.

Well, in his opinion, Engineer was almost worth considering as a proper human being and worth his company, so he reformed the previous phrase in to "All REDs are jerks unless proven otherwise."

Scout started to sew his chair again, and he got the seat done in surprisingly short time, with only minor injuries. He tended to be careless with the needle, and he had small red beads on his fingers, but he didn't mind. They didn't hurt too badly. He thought that he had done rather good job this time, even if his starts and ends looked horrible with all the ties. He was already moving on to the backrest, but was distracted by laughter. He could hear a deep laugh bellow from somewhere, and he could soon locate Sniper and Engineer coming from the shed. The two were acting like they were the best of friends, and it confused him.

"It looks like you got a good kill! How much do I owe you?" The Engineer asked, as he looked at the fawn which Scout had refused to touch during the whole time it had been placed on the garden chair.

"Yeah, I shot the beauty dead on, and the wounds are clean. This will make a delicious roast." The Sniper boasted, and went to the fawn, picking it up to show it to the engineer. "Which part do you wish? You in for the hide? I have noticed the nights getting colder, it might be good for you." The Sniper examined the body, and Scout had to admit, because the animal was killed very cleanly, the hide would be really good quality, with no tears or holes. That was if Sniper could skin it properly.

"Actually, I have been needing something to keep my legs warm, you have no idea how cold it gets with these rubber boots, no matter how thick of a sock I wear." The Engineer muttered, and walked closer to see the fawn. "I would really want some of that meat. Let's make a deal, you give me a few pounds and the skin, and I will cook for you." Engineer bargained, and the Sniper nodded his head eagerly. "You know exactly why I came here. You are definitely the best chef in this whole area, and If I can have free roast made by your talent, then feel free to use as much of this beautiful thing you wish." Sniper said, and licked his lips "Trust me, I'm more than glad to do business with you."

The Engineer laughed, and patted the Sniper on the shoulder. "You sure make nice kills, but I still don't understand why you suck at cooking so much." The Sniper noticed the Engineer's tease, but huffed, and tried to defend himself: "Yeah, yeah. I know how to cook all fine, I just forget that I have anything on the stove." He said, and the words were left hanging, and the Engineer laughed at him. "As this is being said by the man who forgets eggs on the hot stove, I believe you. Besides, if this keeps me from scraping eggs off your van's walls, then I'm glad to help!" The Engineer jokes, and shakes Sniper's shoulder a little.

Sniper smiles shortly and picks up the fawn. "I'll skin this behind your trailer, and bring you the meat. I'll put the skin to dry, so you go make some space for all the goods." The Sniper says as he takes the fawn off with Engineer tipping his hardhat at him. "Will do."

Scout looks at the two with confusion. How come engineer, who is a good man with nice personality, can get along with the Sniper, who seems to be terribly rude to anyone he talks to.

"So, how's your sewing going on there?" The Engineer says, and sits down where the fawn had just been only seconds ago. Scout silently wishes that Engineer wont get any germs off it. Scout hands engineer the seat he had finished, and the Engineer examines it, and nods. "That's good work. Keep that up." He says, and puts the seat down so that it leans against Scout's chair.

"How come you get along with that fucker?" Scout can't resist but jab. With all he has known about the Sniper, the man is rude, and an total ass. He remembers gets shot by him one time too many, and he remembers how he taunted him in the past. The man is a total nuisance, always mocking others, and his totally not friend material.

"What can I say, he brings in the food. He also has a tiny heart hidden somewhere under all that stubbornness, but his respect is something that has to be earned. Cooking skills help." The engineer laughs, and he puts his legs forward so that he can warm them next to the fire.

"Yeah, but that Sniper is a total ass! He came up to me only to mock my sewing and start calling me things." The Scout grunts, and The Engineer shrugs. "As I said, his trust has to be earned. He hates everyone by default. I doubt that all of his intentions are genuine, but currently our friendship is more of an asset than an hindrance."

"I guess so." Scout mumbles and starts to sew again. "So is he safe to talk to?" He asks. His not really sure if he wants to talk to the man, but he would like to be able to protect his pride from Sniper's shit.

"Well, I think that he wont be the kind to do you any harm, At least not directly. I suggest you keep your guard up. I doubt he will do anything that would cross me, but that doesn't mean that he cares for you at all." Engineer sighs and gets up. "I will go clean up some space for the meat." He announces, and leaves Scout to his sewing.

Scout sighs as he starts silently working on his backrest. The part takes longer to make than the seat, but Scout still thinks that he managed to do it fast enough, even though some distracting sounds can be heard from the other side of the trailer. Scout is not sure if he would want to go see what the Sniper is doing.

Scout sets the backrest down, and listens as the Engineer makes ruckus inside the Trailer. The man is obviously moving stuff about, and his probably cleaning the table too. Scout assumed that since he heard a whole punch of small things hitting the floor, and a loud cuss from Engineer. Scout is quite bored to sit in the chair, and his ass is seriously starting to get numb. He wiggles in his seat, wanting to get down, but his not sure about how to get to it. He tries to reach down with his stub of a leg, but the moment he touches the ground it hurts so bad that he struggles his way up. It would be easier if he could just get to the ground where he could drag himself about, even better if the wheelchair was finished. But Scout doesn't feel like sitting at all, so he wriggles about and tries to get himself down without using his legs too much. He finally tries to lover himself down with his arms, but ends up falling down with a yelp as the chair topples over. Plastic chairs were never meant for acrobatics. Scout hisses in pain as he hits the ground, and he spits out the sand that he had accidentally swallowed when he face planted the ground.

"The fuck are you doing dumbass?" He hears the Sniper say as he carries the hide with him. There is a clothes line behind the chairs, and Sniper hangs the skin on the line, letting it dry.

"It's none of your fucking business." Scout growls, and pushes himself up on his arms.

"Oh, so you can talk!" The Sniper teases, and walks to Scout, only to stomp on top of him. "I will cut this shot. I don't trust you worth shit." He hisses, and steps harder on Scout, making him yelp in pain. The heel of Sniper's shoe digs in to his back painfully. "If I wouldn't know that Engineer would somehow profit from having you around, I would finish you right off. And trust me, I will make it look like an accident." The Sniper hisses, and Stares Scout dead on, forcing his point. " You better not even think about getting back to the BLU again. We are kind enough to spare your life, and You will respect it. Not that the BLUs will ever want you back now, though. What would they do with a useless, worn and rugged you, who can't even Scout anymore. You should be grateful that the Engineer has a soft spot for you, brat, Even though I don't think that even he deserves that. Since he took you in, the Engineer has become the laughing stock of the base. You are only hindrance for him for as long as you stay here." The Sniper scowls, and kicks Scout so he is further from him, it looks like the Sniper is disgusted to be touching him. Scout couches in pain, and stares the Sniper with a look that promised him pain. "For all the good he does to you, he only gets dirt thrown at him, I hope you are happy for making him miserable with you sheer presence." The Sniper growls, and kicks sand on Scout's face, and he then turns off to go fetch the meat. The Sniper has put the meat in a bag, and he steps over Scout as if his nothing. Scout gathers himself up with the strength he has left, and yells: "Liar!" After the Sniper, but gets ignored. The Sniper opens the Trailer door to go in with a smile to his lips and laugh in his voice, that bastard.

That man was a horrible being. Scout hated him with all he was worth, and he tried to rub the sand off his eyes. He hadn't even realized what a drag he was. It must not look good on Engineer to be holding in an enemy, nursing him and having him as a quest. But Scout refused to think about that. Those words might all be lies, and foul words so Sniper would get to him. And deep down, Scout knew that he was right. Currently he had done nothing to repay Engineers kindness. The man had changed his bandages, fed him, and was currently making him a fucking wheelchair, and all he had done was mope and accuse him of ruining his life, when in reality it was the exact opposite!

Scout can feel the tinge in his eyes, but he settles it with a grunt and determination to fix this all eventually. Sniper was just a bully. But he would show him that he wasn't a waste. He would be useful to Engineer, even if it took his life, and he would get better, and someday, he would kill Sniper in his sleep. Scout hissed in anger as he started to drag himself towards the door, only to find it impossible to reach the handle down here. He tries with all his might, but he cannot reach enough, and his legs hurt like a mean fuck when he tries to stand on them. It's then that Scout realizes how useless he is. He cannot survive even for a while on his own, he is completely incapable of moving around, and his too damn useless to even open a door for himself. He swears loudly and hits the door with his wrist. He is so mad at himself for having to keep asking for others'help, and he is furious for Sniper for pointing that out to him. He feels a bang for his pride, and he knows that the self loathing is billing.

The trailer door is pushed open, and Scout gets knocked back for being too close. He topples over like a kid who was pushed, and falls on his back with a loud grunt. He sees the Engineer on the doorway, and he looks worried. "Scout, you shouldn't have gotten up, you'll tear your bandages!" Scout can hear the scolding in the other's voice, and he feels like an idiot. Why can't he do anything right. He would make Engineer do the bandages again if he ended up tearing them. Or maybe he would insist on doing that himself, Engineer was doing enough on him.

"Whatever, just get me inside." Scout growls, and feels himself like a child as Engineer picks him up and carries him to the trailer like a two year old. The Engineer takes him to the table, butting him down to sit. He is facing the now clean dining table. Engineer has obviously taken away of all of his tools and parts that were littering the table this morning.

The Sniper is sitting on the other side of the table, and the Engineer is putting on the stove. Sniper has a bitter scowl on his face as he looks at Scout, but the Engineer seems lively. The man is putting on the gas, and setting the fire to heat the stove, and Scout can smell it, and frowns. HE was never too fond of the smell.

"So what would you like to eat today?" The Engineer asks, and picks up a frying pan, and put a slab of meat on the cutting table, waiting for someone to tell him what to start preparing.

"I fancy some fawn slices with that cream gravy you are so good at making." The Sniper says, and Scout doesn't say anything at all. He himself sucks at cooking, and he could burn the water! He swore to his mother's name, that once he had tried to microwave milk to make some hot chocolate, but the milk had turned in to porridge in the micro! That's how bad he was at cooking! So Scout remained silent, just hoping that whatever food they were making, it would be delicious. For what he had eaten this morning, the food was delicious, and if what Sniper said aboyt Engineer's cooking was true, then it was the best.

"Sure thing, I would like some gravy myself!" The engineer slicing the meat in to bite sized slices, and when he was done he threw a generous amount in to the pan, frying them until they were nice brown color. Scout was looking at him all the time, interested about his recipe. He may have been horrible cook, but he always wished he could make something better than microwave food or cans. Engineer also made some potatoes, and he added cream, a consommé cube, and something that came from a silly looking brown bottle, and had a bull on the label. The liquid was thick and brown, coloring the otherwise creamy colored gravy in to brownish cream. The man also sprinkled some kind of powder in the mix, and Scout noticed that the grave started to get less runny.

"Smells delicious." He had to comment, and engineer nodded. "And it is, just have to wait for the potatoes." The Engineer laughed, and put the stove on low heat. "I can't wait." The Scout tried to push himself to sit more upright, and he was already salivating when Engineer placed three plates and glasses on the table, he also gave them forks and knives, and brought the food to the table. It didn't take too long for the potatoes, and soon they were all digging in.

They ate in silence, even though Scout was making pleased noises now and then. The food was simply delicious, and it didn't look hard to make at all! He had no idea why those TV cooks made everything seem so long and difficult to make, when engineer could whip up wonders in minutes!

"This is the best thing I have eaten so far!" The Scout mumbles between mouthfuls. The Engineer huffs "Nah, don't say that, it makes it sound like your mother couldn't cook at all!"

The Scout shakes his head and takes another big forkful. "Nah, she was a great cook! She was working at a restaurant, which always drained her mood to cook at home. She could make food out of everything, but the fact was that there were so many of us, that we couldn't always have the best of ingredients. You know, quantity over quality." He laughs, and eats some more. "This fawn is delicious."

Even though the Sniper has not said anything during their conversation he nods. Scout has to note, that he is a good hunter, even though he is a horrible bastard.

They eat the rest of the meal in silence, and when they are done the Sniper excuses himself. Scout thinks it's a good time for him to leave, and wishes him good riddance.

It's momentarily silent after the Sniper leaves, but Scout picks up conversation soon. "I finished both the seat and the backrest." Engineer turns to him and smiles. "That's great! I will solder the pieces together tomorrow, now I will have to deal with all this meat." He mumbles the end, and starts to bring the meat on the table. "Can I help?" Scout offers, feeling the need to do something with himself. The Engineer gives him a once over, and then nods. "I guess you can." He says, and sits on the other side of the table.

"I will freeze most of this. Could you start cutting the meats in to small, easily stored slabs? I will start making the meat that goes to the ridge." They both start cutting meat, and it's surprisingly distracting for Scout. They hold up a some small talk while they work, but nothing more than pleasantries. When Scout manages to keep his mind in the work, he can totally get lost in to that, and he hasn't even noticed the time go by when they are finally finished with all the meat.

"That's some good job you did there. I'm glad we got all this done today, so the meat wont go bad." the Engineer smiles, and rubs his back.

"What are we gonna do next?" The Scout asks, feeling like drowning himself in to something else. He is not ready to start thinking about anything yet.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep. It's already late." The Engineer says, and points at the window. It's dead dark outside. "I will just dump these in the freezer fist." Engineer says, and starts putting on his shoes. "Where are you going?" Scout asks surprised, not expecting Engineer to be going anywhere. "The freezer is in the shack. the trailer doesn't have space for an icebox." Scout nods, but Engineer is gone with the meat before he can see that.

Scout is slightly surprised at how fast the time has gone by, by the is also kind of glad that it has. Today has been a lot going on. He sighs, and he tries come down from his seat to crawl on the bed on his own, but then remembers how mad the Engineer had been when he had almost torn his bandages and reconsiders. In the end Scout decided to wait for Engineer, which doesn't take long, and once he has put the rest of the meat in the fridge, he picks Scout up. Scout puts his hands around Engineer's head, and he feels like he is going to topple over at any minute. Not having his legs is seriously messing with his balance. He holds his hands rather tightly around Engineer's shoulders, but says nothing. He feels like a complete child again, and buries his hand in his hair in shame, hoping that Engineer can't see his frustration.

Engineer takes him to the back of the van, and stops between the beds. "Where would you like to sleep?" Scout notices the top punk now for the first time, and he feels like a brat for wanting to sleep up there. He had always fought with his brothers for the top punk. It was special to be able to sleep over the others. But Scout refused to ask for the top punk. He doesn't want to bother engineer every single morning and evening with having to pick him up. He was not a child. Instead he looked down to the two other beds, and shrugged. "Whichever is fine." The Engineer laid him down to the bed that was made from the table. and looked as Scout was making himself comfortable. "Do you need anything else? A nightshirt?" Scout shakes his head. "Nah, I'm cool. It's probably so hot I'll go commando." He says, and start to tear off his shirt, making Engineer turn around quickly. The man has a hand to his head, and Scout has no idea what's up with that, but then he notices the red creep up the man's neck. Suddenly Scout feels shy himself, maybe he should filter his words more next time. "Or, I could have boxers. Yeah, totally." He says in a hurry, and face palms. He was such an idiot at times.

"Sure, just a sec." The Engineer says and quickly escapes from the room, and Scout sighs. Way to go, it's good to start a new found friendship with a bit of shame. He grumbles, and doesn't see Engineer until he has thrown a pair of black boxers at him. "You can wear those, I got them as a present one year back, but they were not my size, or style." He mumbles and Scout can see that the boxers have never been used. He wouldn't want to wear other man's worn boxers. He has a small shutter at the though.

"We should shop you some clothes some time, but the only time we are allowed to leave the fort is on the weekends, and only for a while even then." Engineer says, and Scout nods. He starts to change, and Scout remembers how Engineer had dressed him just this morning, so he doubts that the man will go all awkward if he chances now. Besides, they were going to be doing this a lot more often in the future, so he might just have to deal with it.

The Engineer has turned his back on him and his also chancing, stripping himself boxer glad. Scout notices that the man has very broad back, with wide shoulders, and he must admit that the man is in shape. He can see the muscles move under the skin when Engineer puts away his goggles, and when the man goes to lay down in the bed, Scout can't stop ogling at him. He looks so different without the hard hat and the goggles. He looks more like a normal person.

"Why do you wear those goggles all the time?" Scout asks, as he stares at the other man's face. Engineer has quite nice eyes, they are brown, a little hazel colored, and he has laugh lines at the sides of his face. Engineer has a near bald head, with only a couple of millimeters long hair. The man looks interesting. He has a tight skin, which pulls back in to handsome wrinkles when he smiles, and the man has some sharp edges in his face. His chin for example is sharp, but the man looks totally good. He has a wide mouth, thin lips, and a little crooked nose, that might have broken once. He just looks so normal without all that gear.

"I wear the goggles for my work. I need to weld a lot, and I need protection against dirt. But I have admit, that I wear those glasses because my eyes are very sensitive to light. Don't tell anyone, especially the Sniper, but I once burned my eyes when looking at the welding beam for too long. Now I cannot go out without sunglasses, so I just took to wearing my welding goggles full time." He mumbled, and looked at Scout. Scout noticed that the man's eyes were a little lighter than most people, and the pupil seemed to have a sheet over it. It wasn't something one could notice just right away, it was something that could be seen if you paid attention. Scout nodded.

"How was that like?" He asked, and Engineer shook his head. "Horrible. The light hurts your eyes a lit. It makes them itch, sting and dry, even if you try to blink, it won't go away. I remember being nearly blind for a week. I couldn't see anything but blinding white, until it started to gradually settle down. I was so worried that I would lose my sight for good. Now I see everything a little dim, but when I go out without my goggles, it feels like there is thousands of welding beans pointing at my face all the time. The glasses help a ton. I can see fine with them, only just a little darker. This means that I need a lot of light when I work."

Scout felt a little bad for him, but he guesses that he shouldn't have. The man was already over it and coping, if only, he should see that even if you get a little bit of shit drown your way, you can still move on. "I see." Scout mumbled, and pulled the covers over him. He might have lost his legs, but he wouldn't let that hinder him. He once saw a kid with both hands and legs cut off on a TV, and he was managing. He would manage just as well. If not for himself, he would do that for Engineer, the man was putting himself on a line, if what Sniper said was true, and Scout refused to be a bother to the only man who had been helpful to him in ears. He had always been the outcast in his team, and he still wanted their acceptance, and now that he gained that acceptance from engineer, he was not going to give it up.

"Engineer`" Scout asked, and he could hear the other hum back in reply, letting him know that he was still awake.

"Do you mind me staying over? Like wont the other REDs have any problems with this?" Scout asked. He just couldn't get the Snipers words out from his mind, and he wanted to hear Engineer tell him about his opinion personally.

"Nah. I really don't get along that well with the other REDs. Well, I got along fine with all of them, I'm just not friends with anyone else other than Sniper. And you know that man. He really needs his space, So I only get to see him a couple of times whenever he feels like it. What I'm getting at with this is that everyone gets lonely sometimes. If the REDs are not okay with this, then they can all go fuck themselves." Engineer mumbled sleepily, and he rolled around on his back as he buried his face in the pillow.

Scout nodded and made a sound that said that he had understood what the other was getting at.

"Goodnight Engineer."

"Night, Scout."


	5. Chapter 5

Scout had slept late the next morning. The sunshine sneaked in from between the curtains that were pulled shut over the window that was above Scout's bed. Scout's automatic reaction was to turn his head so that he wasn't facing the sun anymore, only to notice that the bed next to him was empty. Scout tried to get up, but he noted that his legs were stiffer than what they had been yesterday, but he guessed that it was a part of the healing progress. Scout had to push himself up with the aid of his hands, and he noted that there was a paper on the night table which was held down in place by a bottle of pills. Scout reached for the note first.

"Medic told me to make you take one pill every morning. –Engineer." It was a very short text, which wasn't answering any of Scout's questions, like, where was the Engineer? Scout decided to pop one pill down, and after he had swallowed it down dry, he reached for his clothes that were scattered on the floor, and started to dress. He had to redo the knots under his knees several times, because they kept undoing themselves as Scout moved, but he finally managed to make a proper tie.

Scout was totally not up to waiting for engineer's returning, so he took a hold of his and Engineer's bed edges, and slowly lowered himself on the ground, almost dropping himself. He seriously had not realized how much his body weighted. Once Scout was sitting down on the floor, he started moving. It was awkward. Basically he was just jumping forwards while sitting, in a way. He put his arms on his sides and lifted himself up as much as he could, which was only a couple of centimeters, and he then threw himself forward. He was now moving with his back first because it was a million times easier than moving the other way around because his legs were in the way. Also, with his legs making his balance point to the back, it was easier moving with back first. Moving like that was awkward, slow, and totally not good for his ass, but he was getting somewhere. Slow but steady.

Scout kept going to the kitchen, only to note that Engineer was not in the trailer, so he must be in his shed. There was no food in the kitchen, other than leftover, which meant that Engineer had not made breakfast yet. Scout wasn't too hungry, but he was very curious about where the Engineer might of have gone. He doubted that there was a fight going on at this time.

Scout made it to the door, which was way easier to open from the inside than it was from the outside. When Scout had opened the door, he was met by a hot wave of dry outside air. He was determined to get to Engineer, so he tried to get down the stairs, which was a little challenging. He tried to crawl down the stairs head first, and he hit his feet on the metal step rather hardly when he finally fell face first in to the dirt. That was just his luck.

He took only a moment to see if his bandages were well, and started to jump his way to the shed. This would totally not be good for his ass in the long run. Eventually his ass would be either hard as hell, or covered with bruises and scratched, because there were so many jarring rocks everywhere. Thank god he was going to have a wheelchair soon.

It took him really long to get to the shed, and after all that moving his arms were hurting like hell, among his ass. He had to take breaks every now and then to rest his arms, but soon he was close enough to hear sounds coming from the inside of the shed. He could hear welding, and he saw bright light coming from the inside. When he went to the door, he momentarily saw a blinding blue and white light, along with a couple of sparks.

"Engineer!" He yelled, trying to catch the working man's attention, but he guessed that the man was wearing some kind of hearing protection, which forced him to yell louder. It was when Engineer was taking a break from welding to see his work so far when the man noticed that he was being called, and he lifted up the mask he had used to protect him from the sparks. "Scout, what are you doing here, how did you got all this way here?" He asks, and comes closer. "What are you doing here?" Scout asks instead, and scuttles a little forward to meet Engineer up a little, answering one of the Engineers questions at the same time.

"I thought that I could finish your wheelchair before you woke up so you wouldn't have to crawl anywhere. I guess I was too slow." Engineer mumbles, and picks Scout up even if Scout resists. He was perfectly capable of moving on his own, he had just proven that. "I'm almost finished, so can you just sit here for a second, and please protect you eyes." The Engineer says, and went back to work. Engineer had put Scout on a old armchair that was in the far corner of the room right next to a table with all kinds of plans on it. Scout was not too interested about anything that the man was working with, but he took a glance out of curiosity. The man had a very detailed sketch of a house, and some small notes and ideas scrabbled on the corners of the papers. The man seemed to not have any real project going on, just some guesses and sketches.

And when Scout heart the hum of electricity building up in the welder, he closed his eyes shut quickly to avoid the bright light. The welding made a lot of noise, and Scout had to cover his eyes from the bright lights that he registered even though he had closed his eyes.

As Engineer had promised, it hadn't taken him too long to finish the chair. He wheeled it next to Scout, and put down his welding mask. "What do you think?" He asked and went to fetch himself a chair that looked like it had never been used for it's given purpose, but more like a storage for all kind of random crap.

"I think we should give it a couple of seconds to cool down, some of the welding joints are still hot." The Engineer said, and Scout nodded. "It looks just fine. As long as it gets its job done." Scout said, and looked at their handiwork. It must have been the most ugliest wheelchair he had ever seen, but it was still the best. He had never seen a wheelchair with a sofa seats on it, or a normal chair with wheels on it, but it still looked kind of awesome. It had metallic hand rests on the sides, which would be a bitch in a hot day, but it was still their handiwork. The seats were made by his own hands, and he was glad. At least he now had something to move by.

"It's awesome." He said, and silence fell on them. Scout was never a fan of having anything to say, so he quickly picked up something to say. "So blueprints, eh? You planning on making yourself a cottage?"

Engineer smiles, and plays with his glove. "Well, yeah. The trailer is no place to live in, and I refuse to be in the 2fort. I have always wanted a little house for myself, something to work with. I have always wanted to plan my dream house and then start to build it little by little, but seeing by how things are going, either my plans are going to waste, or I should just accept that there is no dream location other than this here. I wouldn't want to leave here though."

Scout nodded eagerly. "Well I get you at that! I wouldn't want to live here either! But one day, we'll get out of here, and you can start making that house of yours." The Scout looks over at the blueprints. "So what's your plan? You have one master bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, work room… are you planning on living there alone?" He says as he notes the lack of guest rooms. He didn't really think that it meant that he wouldn't be included in his dream house, but more like the lack of wanting to have any extra family members. Scout's home had many rooms in it, even thou they always had to share rooms with their brothers.

"Nah, I really wouldn't mind having someone, but I really don't have anyone in mind, and I have no desire for kids of my own. Maybe a dog." He mused and shook his head.

"But I guess it's time for breakfast. You want to get in to the wheelchair yourself, or should I lift you?" Scout shook his hands in pushing motion and and made sure to whip his head back and forth in a huge no. "Don't you even dare! I will have to learn to take care of myself!"

Engineer shook his head with a grin on his face, but he brought the when chair over for Scout. "I will ace this, just watch me!" He boasted, and took a hold of the armrest, and tried to lift himself on, but noticed that it was really difficult with the chair moving and shaking under him. It was easier to pull the chair towards him than it was to pull himself towards the chair, which was the opposite of what he wanted. The Engineer went to take a hold from the bike handles that he had soldered on the chair, only to receive a scowl from Scout. "Just back off, I got this!" He said, and tried again, hoping that he could lift himself up a little more, just enough that he was no longer sitting in the armchair. But it was way harder than he had expected.

So he tried another way, he tried facing the chair with his back, just like he had been moving a while ago. He lifted himself so that he was holding himself up with his arms, but when he was pushing himself forward, he was actually just pushing the wheel chair further, and he almost fell on his ass when the wheelchair completely escaped him, only to have the Engineer hold the chair in place in the last possible moment. "This is harder than I thought." He said, and he was now cursing the armrests. Even thou they provided a good grip, it made it harder for him to get in to it. "I will try once more, back off." He said, and pulled the chair back to the armchair he vacated. This time he tried to head on approach, pulling himself forward so that he was resting on the chair with his stomach. He then bend himself so that he was laying in an arch, chest against the backrest, lower stomach and crotch against the chair. He then started to twist his body around, until he was eventually on the chair, but he was slowly falling off, but with the remaining of his energy he managed to pull himself up to sit properly on the chair. "Oh my god that was difficult, but so worth it! I did it! I have mastered the wheelchair!" He boasted, and cheered his victory with a wide smile, and Engineer gave him a couple claps of hands. "Well done Scout. I'm glad to know that I don't have to deal with that, because it looks totally awkward." He says, and Scout points at him with a finger before shaking his fist at him. "This totally is! Survival of the fittest man and I'm really fit!" He said, and proceeded to swing his hands in the air as if he was celebrating a goal. Well, in his eyes, he kind of had scored one big time.

First milestone in Scout's handicapped life: Climb on to the wheelchair by his own.

Engineer couldn't help but smile fondly at the energetic man he had been given to deal with.

Once Scout was done celebrating his success with the wheelchair, they went to have breakfast. Scout was eagerly planning his day, wanting to find something to do to make himself either useful, or busy.

"I would like to go for… well, a walk, but It would be more like scrolling, you know?" He was explaining between mouthfuls "I used to go jogging quite often, and I kind of miss that." He said, and pushed the plate away from himself once he was full. "Well, now that I can push myself about, I think that there is nothing to stop me, so I think that I should be going." Scout was already dragging himself out, but Engineer swapped him on his arms and carried him through the door. It was decided that the wheelchair would be left outside, because there wasn't much use for it inside. Besides, he still needed help to get through the front door. It was obvious that trailer doors were not handicap friendly.

"Would you like to come for a walk with me?" Scout was lowered on the wheelchair, and he was already scrolling on his way.

"I guess I have no choice, you are not allowed to wander on your own, and I doubt that you know your way around here." He said and pulled his hardhat lower so it was providing him shade from the warm heat and sunshine of the outside air.

"Guess so." Scout said, and started to push himself forwards, expecting engineer to be right behind him. He went on for a while, pushing himself forwards, when he noticed that the movement became easier on him, and he knew that Engineer was pushing him. "Hey, hey, hey, no cheating! I will do this all by myself!" Scout tried to twist so that he could shoo Engineer away, and with a sigh the Engineer came to walk beside him. "I want to be able to do things by myself. I appreciate your help, but I will need to learn to vend for myself at some point." Engineer nodded, and watched as Scout pushed himself forwards, moving faster than was necessary. They hadn't gotten too far when Scout was already complaining about how his arms were getting tired. "This sure is more tiring than I expected. I should start exorcising or something. Maybe start lifting weights. Then it would be easier to lift myself in the wheelchair too." He puffed, and even Engineer noticed how Scout's phase was dropping. "Okay, you can have a break. Just a tiny one. But then we will continue, okay." Scout said, and Engineer smiled. As if he needed a break. Scout looked like he was melting on his chair, and he tried to shake his hands a little. "Man, I really need to get to that exorcising. Could you like, get me weights or something?" Scout panted, and shook his head to freshen up. "You okay now, maybe we should continue." He wheezed, and started to push himself onwards.

"We could like, go walk around the 2fort, I'm sure I can do that." He mumbled, and Engineer was glad that Scout had taken to proceeding with slower phase that Scout could keep his strength up with.

"What day is it anyway?" Scout asked, and Engineer had to think about that for a moment. They had not had anything special going on so he had forgotten to keep track of the days, but he could still count the days. "It's Wednesday."

"Only Wednesday? So I will have to use these same clothes for half a week still?" He asked, and kept pushing himself forwards. "Well, we can always wash those clothes." Engineer commented, and Scout nodded " Yeah, that would be nice." He said, and looked back at Engineer. "So, you have a washing machine in that shed of yours, or do we have to go to 2fort?" Engineer looked kind of unease, and shrugged. "Well, I would prefer if we stayed as far from the others as we could." He mumbled, and seemed to scowl to the idea of having to meet Soldier there. "But the only thing I have is a washing board and a barrel." He said, and swiped his forehead.

"Dude, that's ancient! But Okay. I can do the washing! Maybe it will help my arms!" Scout refused to become lazy or bored, so he tried to make himself do as much work as he could. Besides that would repay Engineer for taking care of him. He was now completely sure that no-one else would bother because of him.

"Yeah, I might just as well wash your laundry too!" He exclaimed, and started to push himself harder.

After that Engineer noticed that Scout had started to push himself even further and further, trying to take a load of work for himself, and not complaining nearly as much as he had expected the be possible for Scouts in general. Their own team Scout surely was the worst, but he was secretly glad that the Scout he was to deal with was the nicest kind. He had noticed that if he so much as thought about having to do something, Scout would immediately be there to volunteer. It wasn't a bad thing really, the boy obviously needed something to do to not get bored out of his fits. Engineer had to admit that it would get really boring in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing to do but everyday things. The cable sucked here, and all the books he owned were made of text that completely exceeded Scout's ability to understand. Engineer found himself wishing that weekend would arrive fast so he could get the poor kid some proper clothing and maybe books. He did own a TV and a dvd player, so he might get them a movie, but he had the most horrible taste in movies that he doubted that Scout would appreciate his movie choice. It would be easiest to bring the kid with him, but he was not allowed to take the Scout with him, but he wasn't allowed to leave him alone in the trailer either, which was a very complicated situation.

But thankfully he had thought up a way for him to go to the nearest town. He would just have to spent a couple of days promising the heaven, earth and whatever was in-between to Sniper so he could sit on Scout watch.

This of course resulted to a lot of resistance from Scout. "I'm not spending a single moment alone with that man!" Engineer had tried to be reasonable, and he had explained the situation several times to the Scout. "I have told you that he is the only man I trust enough to not to kill you in my absence." He said, only to get a new comeback from Scout: "Yeah, he might not kill me himself, but I doubt that he would come to my aid if someone else would!" Engineer sighed. Scout was so stubborn at some times. "Sniper promised me to keep you safe." Engineer mumbled, and sat down in the kitchen chair. "I told him that you were doing housework, so if chopping firewood is something you feel like doing, you have my permission to hold an axe, if that makes you feel any safer." He said, and Scout nodded. "It's only for a day." Engineer emphases, and lets Scout think about it for a while.

"Okay, but just for this once. I don't get along with him. Not at all." He hissed, and Engineer shook his head in defeat. "He can be a jerk at times, but his a good man. Deep inside there somewhere." Scout sulked for the rest of the week, not really feeling like talking to Engineer after that, and Engineer hoped that Scout would snap out of it eventually. He also hoped that Scout and Sniper wouldn't kill each other in his absence.

The weekend came by really slow, and when Sniper came by it seemed to arrive so suddenly like a slap on the face. Sniper and Engineer didn't talk to each other for long before Engineer was already gone. It looked like Sniper was sulking at Engineer as well because he was made to babysit.

"I'm going to be inside of the van, and you can do whatever it is that you do." Sniper said, and left Scout outside alone, which Scout was very pleased of. He couldn't stand Sniper any more than he had to.

So Scout started chopping on some firewood. Engineer had gotten him a pile of lumber this morning so he could spend most of his time chopping. Scout was secretly very glad of that, because he hoped that he could have as much distraction as he could to keep himself out of Sniper's way.

So he started chopping, he had been working on it for less than an hour, when he heard running steps coming at his way, and he noticed a RED flash come his way. Wow, was the RED Scout fast. Scout had almost forgotten how fast the other was. It had taken him his all to best him at running, but he had done it. It counted if he won most of their races on the field.

"Well isn't it the pet Adopted by the engineer." The RED Scout sneered. "I had to see you myself, and man, am I surprised. My counterpart without his precious legs, weak and completely unprotected." He seemed to be circling him, and he kept batting his baseball bat up and down on his shoulders. "Well, at least Engineer has been able to turn you in to a completely slave. I have seen you do all his housework for him, how pathetic is that?" Scout was boiling with anger and he tightened his grip around his axe. If the RED Scout dared to come closer, he wouldn't hesitate to take a swing.

"At least I don't need to feel threatened by you, what could you ever do to harm me, Too bad for you that I have the home advantage." The RED Scout went in to the hitting position, rolling the ball on his palm. "But I'm not known for taking unwanted risks. While I'm still in charge here, I will not tolerate another Scout in my eyes." the RED Scout crouched and prepared to throw the ball to the air, ready to hit it. It was a point blank range, Scout knew that. "Scout had no time to lift his hands op to his eyes, and he threw the axe away from him in an instinct. He had closed his eyes and was preparing for a world of pain when he heard the loud wham as the RED Scout hit the baseball. He heard a loud slap as the ball hit flesh, but it wasn't his pain. Scout opened his eyes quickly to notice that the Sniper had opened the trailer door and caught the ball in mid throw, and Scout knew that the man's hand had to be smashed. He could see the Sniper's hand shake visibly, and he noted how it turned red as he crushed the ball with his hand.

"You!" He yelled to the RED Scout, and stepped down from the trailer step. "I told you to stay away from here!" He yelled, and walked forward fast, gluing the RED Scout in the ground. Scout could see that the RED Scout was intimidated by the Sniper's anger, but he was too proud to take a step back to retreat.

"You sick son of a bitch should learn to not shake that stick to just anyone!" The Sniper scolded, and took the RED Scout by the neck, and forced the younger boy on his knees. "I will skin you if I see you about once more, you hear me." He growled, but the RED Scout only grinned at him. "As if you would. I know that you are full of empty threats!" He laughed, and stood up, removing the Sniper's hand from his collar.

"Mark my word I will make sure that they both get what's coming for them." The RED Scout hissed, and made an intimidating move by pushing his head and chest forward, making Sniper to lean back. "Next time wont end up so well, and next time you wont be here to stop me." The RED Scout hissed, and turned on his heels to walk away. "You better leave, and take your fucking ball with you!" The Sniper yelled and threw it as fast and hard as he could towards the Scout. The fly of the ball was uncoordinated and slobby, defiitely not a professional throw, but it still hit the other on the back of his head with dead on accuracy with such a force that it made the RED Scout topple, but he managed to not fall on his face. He picked up the ball, and flipped a bird at Sniper. Sniper exhaled air through his nose.

"That child will be the death of all of us, unless I can kill him first. Mark my words, one day I will." The Sniper growled, and kicked a rock quite hard to vend off his aggression.

"I see that you have awesome group spirit going on." The Scout mumbled, and the Sniper slouched on the garden chair next to Scout.

"We have an amazing relationship going on, we all love to hate each other." The Sniper growled, and took out his kukri and started to sharpen the blade. "That mother fucker is the best and worst Scout I have ever seen. He has been on our group for ears now. You know how Scouts don't usually last long in any team? Well, our little fucker there is immortal I say. He just refuses to fucking die. His ruthless and completely undefeated on field." Sniper hissed, and Stared at Scout. "How long is the contract for Scouts in your team?" Sniper asks, sneering as sharpens his blade so hard that there were sparks flying.

Scout swallowed and mumbled "An year, or unless a replacement is found. Usually Scouts don't last that long." Scouts were the pawns of the chess, the necessary sacrifices that had to be done to keep the rest of the team going.

"Our Scout has been with us for 6 years." Sniper hissed, and Scout looked surprised. That must be the longest time a Scout had been in any group ever. "We simply cannot find an replacement for him, and he refuses to leave." The Sniper mumbled, and hit the kukri on a lodge to see how sharp it was. The knife sink almost to the halfway of the thick log.

"We have been searching for a Scout who is faster, stronger, smarter… Simply better than him to take his place, but we have not had any luck in that department." Sniper looked at his knees and lowered his hat on his lap.

"For a small moment we had the most amazing Scout with us. It was three years back. The Scout we have now was not as mad then as he is now, he had just managed to keep himself in the group by extending and redoing his contract, but that was the last year he was allowed to do that. But anyways, the Scout that was to take his place was a bundle of energy. He was nice, kind, naive, and he got well with everyone. That damn thing even got to the Soldier's better side, which tells a lot. Even I liked him. I would even go as far as to call him my best friend. He came by my van and post every evening to just talk. I didn't care of his company too much at that time, but I warned up to him. He was smart, agile, and lively, and he sure was playful." The Sniper looked at his hands and then to the distance. He saw a the Sniper dock in the distance. Under the dock there were trees growing, but Scout couldn't see well so far.

Sniper continued his story as he watched the trees in the distance "He Once told me that his favorite place was the Sniper dock. He loved seeing the 2fort for everything it was worth from up there, and he loved the apple trees that were growing below. He said that apples were his favorite fruit in existence." Sniper smiled. "I hate apples. I never wanted to taste any of the apples he offered me, and I still wont." He laughed, and shook his head.

"And not long after that it was the time for the other Scout to go. His deal had ended, but he had other plans. He reclaimed his position by making sure that he would always be the only Scout in the fort. I buried my best friend under the damn trees he loved so fucking much." The Sniper said, and Scout could see the red eyes, and he didn't know if he should say comforting words and reach for Sniper, or just let the man collect himself. Sniper was a proud man, he was not sure if he would react kindly to hugging.

"After that I met Engineer. He was there to keep me sane when I mourned my best friend and wished the Scout who did this would soon face the same fate. Engineer was my support, and he soon became a close friend. I have seen a lot of death in the battlefield, but that was the first time I had to bury someone I loved." The Sniper said, and got up. "I recommend that you will stay out of the other Scout's way. I know that your fate is pretty much sealed now that he has laid eyes upon you, but it would kill me if I and the Engineer would have to switch up the roles about who's comforting whom." The Sniper went to retreat to the Trailer, and he looked at the Scout with eyes that told him to do his best.

"Keep up the good work with those firewoods." He wished, and stepped in to the trailer, and soon the silence fell heavy to the air. Scout seemed to lose his enthusiasm to work on the firewood, but he was adamant to get the job done before the Engineer would arrive.


	6. Chapter 6

The Engineer returned when it was already late at night. He had brought many bags full of stuff, and Scout felt sorry for him having to buy all that on his own expense because he didn't have a single coin on him.

Scout had been waiting for Engineer in his own bed, and he still harbored it the most embarrassingly awkward moment of his whole life when the Sniper had dragged him there. The Sniper had become a man of very few words, and Scout hadn't minded too much. He really didn't have any idea what to say to the man after the little chat earlier. It was a rare moment when Scout was completely speechless, but it did happen.

So when Engineer walked in, Scout was already hollering him "Welcome home!" from his bed. The Sniper nodded at Engineer, and took him to the side for a second. Scout couldn't hear what they were talking about, but I guess it was about the earlier. Engineer would probably die with worry.

The Sniper paid Engineer a curtly goodbye, and he quickly sneaked through the door and was on his way. The Engineer came quickly to the back of the trailer, and looked at Scout with slight worry. "Are you okay?" He asks, and drops the bags on the floor.

"Yeah. I'm just fine." Scout looks at the bags, already trying to guess what all the engineer had gotten.

"I had a feeling that the Scout would become an problem, but I didn't think that he would challenge you with your.." Engineer's words were left to linger in the air as he looked at Scout's legs, and Scout interrupted him before he would mention anything about his disability. "Yeah, but nothing happened. Sniper was there."

Engineer nodded, and sat on his own bed opposite from Scout. "Well, I told you that the man wished you no harm. He has a heart there somewhere. Or had." Engineer mumbles, and Scout nodded, even if only so slightly. He was not going to forgive the jerk ass Sniper after just one day of guild tripping.

"But let's worry about that later! What did you get!" The engineer looks doubtful as he wonders if he should already start planning precautions for the RED Scout, but drops it for now.

"I got a three pairs of everything. I also got a couple of books and a movie." He mumbled and went to dig through the bags to Show Scout his catch of the day.

Scout was eagerly looking about the clothes, and even though they were very simple design, he was pleased. At least they weren't embarrassing, even if they weren't the best of kind.

"I'm not really too good with the clothes shopping thing, but I hope that they fit you." Engineer mumbled, took a pair of jeans in his hands, trying to guess if they were the right size.

"I bet they are fine!" Scout smiled, and looked through them. He had 3 pairs of boxers, two blacks, and a white. He got had two pants, jeans, Adidas sweatpants and casual gray fleece pants. He also had three T-shirts, also white, black and one red, all with a simple design or text on the front. He got one red hoodie, a black shirt, and shirt with a long collar. Engineer had also bought him a black jacket for some reason. "So, you plan on me wearing red?" Scout asks, and pulls the t-shirt close to him to see how it looked on him.

"Well, I wasn't really planning on the team colors or anything, just picked up something." Engineer defended, and Scout smiled. "Nah, I think it's great. Blue always made me look pale anyways." He mumbled, looked up to Engineer.

"I also got you a cap. I wouldn't want you to get sunstroke since you are outside so often." He says, and shows a cap at Scout. The hat is white, which is great. His previous black hat tended to get awfully hot.

"I think that's great, I love caps! Too bad I lost my old cap. I loved that cap. Did you know that I once caught a baseball with that cap? You know, in an actual game. I have that ball signed at home!" Scout cheered, and pulled the hat deep to his head. "That was an amazing cap that." Scout says, and then realizes to look at the bags, which surprisingly weren't completely empty yet.

"What else is there? You got something more?" Scout wonders, and Engineer dug out the books and the movie Scout had completely forgotten about already.

"I had no idea what you liked, so I just asked the salesman what someone your age would like. I told him a had a nephew visiting, and he was glad to show this stuff at me." Engineer said, and to be honest, he had no idea what he had bought for Scout. He had not even bothered to read the back cover of the books, he just hoped that Scout would like them, or at least find enough distraction in them to manage until next weekend.

Scout had no idea about the movie or the books either, but they looked interesting enough. He had not been much in to reading, so he wouldn't have been able to say anything about the books none the less, but he was surprised that Engineer had managed to find an action movie which he was completely unaware of. He loved movies, but he guessed that it had to be a new movie that had come out when he was with his team. "I bet they are just fine." Scout put the movie and the books to the side, planning on getting to them tomorrow.

"I also bought you some paper and pencils. I thought that maybe you would like to write or draw something, who knows." Engineer said, and placed a stack of paper along with pencils, rubber and a sharpener on Scout's night table, next to the movie and books.

"Thanks man!" Scout smiled, and looked a little forlorn. He would like to write his mom, but he doubted that he was allowed. Otherwise Engineer would have gotten him envelopes and stamps. "I think that's awesome, thanks for all of this. I must owe you a lot!" Scout said as he tried to reach to hit engineer on the arm, but couldn't reach, so he awkwardly shook his arm at him instead.

"You don't own me a single thing! This is all my pleasure!" Engineer insisted, and Scout smiled. "Yeah, that's great. But I think that I'll get some sleep now." He mumbled, and looked at the pile of clothes that Engineer was folding so they were right next to his bed and easily reachable for Scout.

"Yeah, you should. From what I have heard, you might have had a long day here with sniper." Engineer said, and let Scout sleep.

When the morning came, it was Scout who awoke first. He quickly ate one of the pills he had on the night table, and picked up some of his clothes, and started to dress up. He decided to wear jeans and a black t-shirt, and once he was ready he started to make his way to the kitchen. He took a book with him, because he didn't have anything else to do this early. He wanted to start working with his arms as soon as he could, but he didn't yet have anything to work with. He thought that he could do some push up, but that hurt his legs too much. His legs were constantly sore from the spot they had been cut, and the pain was horrible if he accidentally hit his leg on something, say, a table corner. He couldn't start on pushups yet. He had not gotten any weights yet, so what he could do for now was to climb on the kitchen chair and wait for Engineer to wake up. Maybe the man could arrange something. He opened to book in front of him, and started to read. He hadn't bothered with the back cover, because there was no use on being picky. He only had these two books after all.

Scout came aware that Engineer had woken up when he heard the rusting of sheets. "Scout?" The Engineer called, and Scout could swear that the man sounded worried. "In the kitchen!" Scout folded a corner of his book and closed it. The book seemed readable, and the plot was good enough, but he still would prefer to do something else than sit and read.

"I see." Engineer said with relief in his voice, and he put some clothes on. "How come you are up so early?" Engineer asked as he went to the toilet.

"Just did." Scout had to say loud so Engineer could still hear him through the door. Scout heard the slosh of the toilet being opened so the waste could drain in a tank.

Engineer came back not long after.

"So do you have plans for today?" He asked and sat on the table, looking at scout. "No. Not really, I would like to start training my arms though." Scout mumbled, and he lifted his arms up, trying to show off his bicep. It wasn't much to show, he had nice muscles going on, but not enough to provide him what he needed. "Goddamnit, I need that workout badly." He mumbled, and looked at Engineer. "Dammit, it looks like I skipped the upper torso day, yet have only half of the legs! Do you have anything I could use?"

Engineer looked like he was trying to remember if he had anything, or if he could somehow make something like that. "Well, I don't really have anything, but I think that I could make something. I think I have some metal parts that are small and heavy enough for that. I also have this huge elastic band of you would like to do stretches?" Engineer asked, but he wasn't completely sure if they could be used for exorcising. It was as good as it could get for now.

"Let's go look, who knows." Scout says, and he is already turning around, but Engineer carries him to his wheelchair. Once outside they went to Engineers shed, and Scout made sure to push himself all the way without any aid from Engineer.

Scout couldn't get too far into the shed because of all the junk on the floor, but he didn't have to. Engineer did all the looking. He had brought him two kinds of big parts that Scout had no idea what they were. They might be bearings or car parts, but he had no idea. They were round with a hole in the center. The hole was big enough to have his hand through it, so it was possible to lift it. HE might even tie some ropes on the bearings, and pull them up from the rope. He thought that would actually be the better choice from just lifting the bearings themselves. Engineer also found him one of the elastic bands, and Scout was surprised by how big it was. It was about one and a half meters long loop, and the band itself was nearly 10 centimeters thick. The band was originally for fastening something on a trailer, but Scout thought that it was perfect. He could tie it somewhere, maybe on the outside wall of engineer's trailer, and he could pull the band to exorcise. The band was very stiff and hard to expand, but that was made it even better.

"Hey, do you have some fastenings or robes or something, I could tie some on these bearings. It would be easier to lift them then." He said to the Engineer, and the man got some orange fastening rope, also meant to tie stuff on a trailer. "Brilliant." Scout mumbled, and he piled all this on his lap. "If you tie the band on the outside wall of your trailer, I will work on these bearings."

And so they did. It didn't took them more that fifteen minutes to get it all done, and Engineer pulled on the rubbed band by the wall as hard as he could to see if he could make the trailer move, but couldn't. That was good.

Even the bearing lifts were good. The ropes didn't cut on Scout's hand too much, even if he was slightly bothered by the bearings hanging about, and occasionally hitting him on the legs when he lifted them too carelessly. But they were still functional, so they were good.

Once the the option to exorcise was open Scout took to it immediately. He had started to train his arms daily, and Engineer would keep watch at him every day. Scout learned to appreciate and like Engineers company, and things were looking up. Sniper was paying visits more often now, and Scout was vary about Sniper at first, but they had finally managed to achieve an neutral ground, or a momentarily peace at least. Scout had noticed the RED Scout and Spy and occasional other team members lurking about, but he was the most worried about the two aforementioned. He had no idea about how to react to Spy, but the man might just be spying on him to gain information or what not, but he still was very careful when he thought he was being watched. The RED scout was watching him and trying to find moments when he were alone, but Engineer had been stuck to him like glue lately, which thankfully bought them time. Even Sniper had been on Scout watch occasionally.

It was now a little bit over a week after Scout had started exorcising, and he could already see improvement. Well, not as much in the sense of seeing, but in the sense of feeling. "If I keep this up, I will become a real strongman!" Scout said, as he pushed himself about. He and Engineer were on a walk as they put it, and Scout had already gained enough strength in his arms to push himself the whole trip that it took to go around the 2fort.

"Well, I'm glad for that, because having my hands ache every evening is not cool, but so worth it!" Scout cheered, and Engineer walked beside him. Scout had noticed small changes in Engineer, just tiny ones, but he could see them. The man seemed to be happier, and more relaxed, like he had finally gained a true friend out of him. "Well, you have been rather busy lately, you even finished that book." Engineer smiles, and Scout nods. "And long as book that was, you don't even have an idea how annoying the main character was!" Scout yelled, and Engineer knew. He had heard Scout complain about the story. He knew that Scout hated the main character for how angry and indifferent she was. He had listened all of his rants. Scout had always picked up a book after training when he was literally too tired to lift his hands, and read until he had fallen asleep, telling Engineer all the funny parts he could find from withing the pages. Engineer couldn't say that he minded.

"I think that I'm finally getting better! If only we could find a way for me to use the damned door!" Scout changed the topic, and Engineer nodded. Scout had become surprisingly adjusted to his new lifestyle, and in such a short time too. He had insisted on doing nearly everything himself, only letting Engineer carry him through the door. Engineer kind of missed carrying Scout, but he knew that it was only an excuse.

And somewhere deep withing, he thought that Scout knew that too.

It didn't take them long to get back to the trailer from their walk, and Scout noticed the Sniper was at the trailer, waiting for them.

"What are you doing here?" Scout asked, and he wheeled closer to Sniper. He had finally started to trust the man a little. After a week of peace, the waters seemed to be calm between them.

"Just visiting." Sniper mumbled, and opened the door to the van. Sniper usually did not go in to the trailer without Engineer's permission, so it was common to see the man lurk about, waiting for Scout and Engineer to finish whatever it was what they were doing.

Scout had noticed that during the last week, Sniper had started to be different around him. Or course the thing that he first noticed was how the man had started to not hate him. There obviously ceased to be so much fighting and angry looks between them, but there was something else too. The Sniper seemed to be in deep thoughts lately, and he seemed to be constantly looking at Scout. Scout had noticed him looking over him when he trained, and he had lately started seeing the man outside of the familiar environment too. Sometimes he could see Sniper all the way at the Sniper dock, paying attention on him as he was scrolling about, and Scout thought that the man was just worried. Sniper was paying so much attention on him, that either he was really damn worried, or just plain ass creepy. Scout had no idea which.

"Get in you two." The Sniper egged, and Scout only then noticed that he had been too caught up in his thoughts to notice that he had stopped. "Yeah yeah." Scout said, and reached his arms. He had stopped fighting Engineers insist about carrying him through the doorway, and just let the man have his way. Besides, he hated having to come tumbling down them, or having to climb up.

Engineer took him up the stairs, and they all settled on the dining table, and Engineer started on making food. Engineer was always glad to make food for them, and Scout had finally learned why Sniper adored Engineer's cooking so much. The man was a wizard when it came to cooking. His food was absolutely delicious.

Scout was already dreaming about the Delicious foods the man could make, and they still had some of the fawn meat left. The steaks Engineer had done yesterday were the best ones he had eater ever.

Scout was soon surprised when Sniper sat next to him, instead of sitting on the opposite end of the table like usually, and what little feeling Scout still had in his legs told him that the man had pressed their thighs together. What's up with that? Scout took a little bit of distance between them.

"So, Engineer, are you going to town on the weekend?" Sniper asked, and leaned back so he was resting against the backrest. The man even threw one of his ridiculously long legs over the other, and Scout almost got said appendage on his lap.

"I have thought about it, but am not sure." Engineer thought, but did not lift his look from the food. "I have had this idea in my head for a longer while, a project let's say, but I would need some books and parts for the prototype. I also need some dairy products." He thought out loud, and Scout became curious about what the Engineer was talking about. Had he finally decided to start the house project? "What kind of project is that?" Scout inquired, and Engineer refused to meet his eye, but Scout barely noticed as the man's head was soon stuck in to the spice cupboard.

"Just some research for the RED, you know." Engineer said, and picked up a handful of spices. Scout had no idea what they were, or how they were to improve the food, but Engineer probably knew, so it was enough for him.

"I think I know about the project. Is it the one on hold?" Sniper asked, and the man looked a little worried, but after a moment, the man seemed even slightly hopeful.

"Well, obviously it's not on hold anymore." Engineer said, stirred the food.

"I see. You want me to stay and watch this kid?" Sniper pointed a finger at Scout, "Hey!" Scout exclaimed, not liking the other's pointing "I'm no a kid!" Sniper pushed the cap deeper in to Scout's head, covering Scout's eyes with it. "With that attitude, I beg to differ!" Engineer laughed at the two.

"I'm glad you get along." Engineer looked at them from the kitchen, and Scout was ready to protest, but Sniper caught him in to the most awkward hug he had ever experienced. It was not a hug per se, more like being strangled against the Sniper's side. "What do you mean, we are the best of friends." Sniper said with serious voice, and Scout fought his head free. "In your dreams!" Scout yelled, and Sniper lowered his arm behind Scout's head, and left it there obviously to just spite Scout. "See, we get along mighty fine already." Sniper teased, and Scout huffed. Scout wasn't left to pout for long though, because Engineer had finished the food, and Scout shrugged away the offending arm as everyone was digging in.

"I would like you to look after Scout though." Engineer said after a while, and nodded. "Of course. Everything will be just fine." Sniper said, and looked at Scout. "This means it's going to be some quality time between men then. If you act nice, I might take you to hunt with me." Sniper said, and Scout perked up. The Sniper sure had never been kind to him, and now he was offered to come hunt. That was probably the best offer he had been given in weeks. He had been dying with boredom, and Sniper was being his savior. He had no idea that the man had it in him. "Really?"Scout asked with excitement in his voice, he was more than eager to go. He had wanted to learn to hunt so bad when he was a kid and his father still lived with them. He had went hunting a lot, and he had shown Scout all kinds of things, but now Scout had forgotten all of that, but he was still eager to learn.

"If you can shut up, I will allow you to use the bow, If you are strong enough to draw it, of course. I might consider the sniper, but we will see if you can be trusted with one." Sniper said, and If it was possible for Scout to do so, he was practically jumping on his seat.

"That's going to be so cool, I can't wait!" He said, and didn't even care that it was the Sniper whom he was gaining the shooting lessons from, but he was glad to be out of this trailer.

At least the man was the best shooter he knew.

During the rest of the evening Scout was firing the Sniper with questions. He kept asking about what to wear, when they were going, how long would it take, what would they hunt, and what was it like. Sniper was surprisingly eager to answer all and even some more of the questions that Scout could come up with. At some point the Engineer had sneaked away, but Scout had paid no mind. He knew that the man was much likely off to his shed to fix something. He had mentioned that project of his.

Scout was talking a mile a minute, and this was the first time he saw Sniper smile directly at him. The man seemed to enjoy his company even if it was only when they were talking about his favorite thing.

"Oh my god, I just realized! How can I ever go to that forest, I can't walk!" Scout went silent. He knew that they couldn't bring the wheelchair, the ground was too uneven and soft, he would only get stuck, also, it would make a lot of space.

"Please say that I can still come though!" Scout sounded almost desperate, but definitely sad. Being handicapped sucked. It was so difficult to do anything anymore.

"We will come up with something, if nothing else, I will tie you to my back, and when we find a kill, I will let you down to sit on one of those foldable hiking chairs."

Scout seemed to think about that for a moment, but then he brightened up immensely when he really saw that it was a completely valid way to go. He then grinned an awkward lopsided smile, and shrugged his shoulder "Are you sure you wont mind? I will be at your neck for the whole time, you sure you can deal with me so close to your comfort zone?" Sniper smiled and shrugged.

"We'll find out, but I think that I will manage."


	7. Chapter 7

Scout was burning with excitement while he waited for the weekend. Engineer had been busy in the shed, which had left Scout to train mostly alone. He did not have to be alone all of the time because the Sniper had taken to having short visits with Scout. He usually came to chat with him when Scout was on a stroll and passed his dock, and he sometimes came to chat about hunting when Scout trained. Once Sniper even took a walk with him, even if it was mostly just walking in to the same direction as Scout's stroll which usually involved passing the Sniper's van.

Scout surely had not expected to have Sniper's visits, but since the man seemed to have changed his attitude, he didn't mind. "So you stopped hating my color?" Scout had asked him one day, and Sniper shrugged "Well, as far as I can see, I would say that you have stopped wearing it. Red suits you better." Sniper had wiggled his eyebrows at him as he looked Scout from head to toe. Scout had been wearing his red shirt then, and he took it as joke. Scout had just pushed him on the shoulder, and continued his work.

Scout had one day asked what the Engineer had been up to, and the man had huffed as he admitted that he had been designing blueprints, and that he had some major difficulties with it. Scout had tried to help him, but Engineer had just mumbles something about how he couldn't help since he couldn't understand what he was working on. Scout had to admit that he had no idea about any kind of mechanics, and decided to let Engineer phase around the trailer until it was late at night, and Scout was worried that the man might actually wear a hole on the floor.

But finally after what seemed like an eternity, the weekend came by. Scout had woken up early, and he put on his gray comfy pants, and black shirt, and the hoodie. He had a feeling that it might get cold in the shade of the forest, especially if he had to lay on the moss.

Sniper came to pick him up early in the morning, even before the engineer had woken up. Sniper had said that the morning would be the best time to hunt, and they had left a small note for Engineer to know that they were gone.

The two first hours had gone by in a freeze, even if Scout was not allowed to talk, and he couldn't really do anything but watch for possible prey, and sit on the moss and freeze his ass, but it was still awesome. The Sniper had allowed him to use his bow, and Scout had tried to shoot nearly anything that can move, and he noted that the bow was actually really hard to draw, but he could still do it. After he had twiddled with the bow for long enough, Sniper had actually let him try and shoot a small, young wild boar that was eating grass further away. Scout was familiar with the use of gun, but he had not been using rifles. He had been aiming for a while, but he was pretty sure that he could be able to hit a non moving target.

So he shot, and the boar made the most gruesome high pitched scream that Scout had heard. He had obviously shot a little off, but still enough to make sure that the swine was not getting anywhere. Sniper was quick on his feet to run to the bear and kill it before it suffered for too much.

Sniper congratulated him for his kill. And hearing him say that, made Scout feel proud. Sniper ruffled his hair, and pulled Scout up to to his back as he carried him, and the boar, out of the forest.

Scout was till really excited about his first kill, and he really hadn't even noticed Sniper staring at him all the time. The man seemed to be looking at his lips as he talked, and his eyes were searching his as Scout looked at him.

The only moment when Sniper did not stare fixedly at Scout was when the man put on the fire and started cooking the boar. It was small, and not enough to safe for engineer's great cooking, and they had to eat something today. Sniper may not be a good chef, but he knew how to make food with a campfire.

Scout had been talking all day, feeling a little awkward in Sniper's company, which only made him talk more so he could fill in the silence. He hated silence.

"Scout." Sniper finally interrupted him, and looked up at him, and Scout swallowed. Sniper had taken off his sunglasses, and only now did Scout realize how blue his eyes actually were.

"I have been thinking." Sniper said, and looked away from the Scout as he tended the meat, turning it around over the fire to make sure it cooked evenly. "I think that I like you." The Sniper poked the meat with a long fork he had gotten from the inside, and looked if it was cooked. Scout knew that it wasn't ready yet. "Yeah, I noticed. You haven't been mean to me in weeks." Scout leaned back, and leaned his hands forward. He liked the heat of the campfire.

"That's not what I meant." The Sniper huffed, and looked at Scout. The man had a weird look in his face that Scout had not seen before. Sniper's brows were slightly furrow, and he looked at him so that it looked like he was expecting something from him, but Scout had no idea what. "huh?" Scout deadpanned, and Sniper growled as he shook his head aggressively.

"No, I mean that I might actually like you." He growled, and now scout's eyebrows shot to the ceiling. He had not expected that.

"Uh, no you don't?" Scout tried, not believing.

"Well, you think?" Sniper raised his voice, and Scout looked down. He shouldn't try to change the other's words, he had no say over that.

"But, I don't.." Scout was struggling for the right words. No idea? No mutual feelings? He didn't see Sniper like that? He had not what? Scout just tried to think something fast, and only thing that he could say was the most lames of excuses of all "I have no idea." Scout swallowed hard.

"Well, I do." Sniper said, said, and he sounded sure. Scout sure as hell wasn't sure about anything. He really hadn't thought that Sniper would be developing any further feelings than just friendship for for him, and he sure hadn't expected this.

"Uh, you sure? You like, like me like, and don't just say that because I remind you of something? Or someone?" Scout said, and the worst thing he was afraid of was that the Sniper had mistaken him for the other Scout. Scout did want someone to like him for himself, not just for a substitute when Sniper clearly couldn't have the real thing.

"Well, you two are a lot similar." He said, and scratched his neck, "You are both carefree, strong and happy people. You make me want to do things again, things that I would never do if anyone else asked me to." Scout stared at him. He really had no sexual feelings towards Sniper, and he didn't feel like starting any kind of relationship now. And he didn't even care about the whole gay, bi, or straight thing, because he was simply too shocked to think of that at all.

"No." Scout said, and shook his head with such a small motion that it could be seen as him shaking due the cold. "No?" Sniper asked, sounding rejected, and sad. Sad Sniper was not something Scout wanted to deal with. "No. You just want me because I remind you of the other scout, who you can no longer have. I'm not him. I think that you should find someone who you really like, and not just some substitute so you can fall back in to the past with whatever image it was that you have build in your head during these ears. I think that you should find someone new." Sniper looked a little bit angry, a little bit mad, but he stayed silent.

"And I don't think that I'm ready for any kind of relationship yet. With my legs like this, I have enough problems to deal with as it is." He said, and Sniper nodded.

"But I still have a change?" Sniper looked a little hopeful, and Scout shook his head. "I doubt that, but no-one knows for sure."

"Well I will wait. If my crush dies, then so be it." Sniper said, and got up. "Food is ready."

They both ate in utter silence, and they both refused to speak until the Engineer returned from the village.

The Engineer came back late in the evening, and Sniper was quick to escape the trailer when Engineer came back. Scout was already going to meet him in halfway. "Hey, welcome back!" Scout greeted, and turned around to return back with Engineer.

"Hey you. How was the hunting?" Engineer asked, and pulled the backpack he had on him better so it wouldn't accidentally drop.

"Uh, it was great. Just fine. I guess." Scout mumbled, and blushed as he looked down. Sniper had been staring him all the time, and Scout had had no idea about the man's feelings. "I got to shoot a small boar." Scout informed with still lingering bride. The Engineer smiled at him warmly and congratulated him on his kill. "So how was the rest of the day with the sniper?" Engineer asked and took bigger steps to stay up with Scout's fast phase. "Ugh, weird. Let us never do that again." Scout mumbled, and shook his head when Engineer asked if he cared to share. "Sniper is just being his usual weird self again." Scout came up with, and when they got to the trailer, he raised his hands up to let Engineer let him inside, but Engineer lifted his hand as a "not yet" kind of gesture, and Scout lowered them in slight disappoint. "I'll take these in to the shed first, wait for a second." Engineer mumbled, and made a quick trip to the shed. Scout didn't have to wait for him too long when he came back, and Scout offered his arms to him again. This time Engineer picked him up immediately.

Engineer took him inside and laid him straight to bed. It was quite late already.

"So you want to tell anything about your day?" Engineer asked, as he started to put the dairy products he had bought in to the pride.

"Well, we did go hunting. I got to try the bow, and it was really heavy to draw. I almost froze my ass off when seating on the ground, but it was awesome. Sniper even let me shoot with the rifle, and I killed a wild boar! It was delicious. We saved you some in the fridge. Sniper was very proud of me." Scout added the last part as a afterthought, and Engineer hummed pleased, as he took the meat from the fridge, and tasted it. "This is actually rather delicious. Did Sniper make this?" He asked, and Scout nodded. "Yeah, I'm a crap cook, but he seems to manage the fire." Scout said, and watched as Engineer came to the back of the trailer, and ate the meat.

Scout couldn't take his eyes off him as he started to take his clothes off. "I think that I'm going to crash. It was a long day at the city. Nearly all of the parts I wanted were already gone." He mumbled, and sighed, sounding really tired. "Yeah, me too." Scout mumbled, and Quickly threw off his clothes as he dug under his planked. Seeing Engineer take off all those layers made Scout's stomach feel funny.

Seeing Sniper doing anything similar really didn't awoken any kind of feelings in Scout. That made Scout wonder if the excuse of not being ready for a relationship was a lie. Would he have said yes to Sniper if he hadn't lost his legs? Maybe not. Sniper had ended up being cool and all, but the man was not his type, too lanky and he came with a horrible first impression. He really wasn't trusting Sniper enough to consider anything more than friendship between them. But Engineer still made him feel like he should question his feelings. The man was kind and friendly. A little bit to the silent side, but he was an awesome listener, and Scout liked to talk and to be heard. Engineer was always coming up with things that could improve Scout's life and well being, and he was eternally grateful to Engineer for that.

Engineer interested Scout, because the man was so utterly patient and nice to him. He didn't seem to be bothered by Scout's presence, and even seemed to like it. Others tended to get sick with his constant babbling.

Engineer made Scout feel at home. He did have bursts of homesickness to his old base, but he hadn't really missed anyone too much. Engineer always came up with things for him to do to distract his mind from over thinking, and the man was seriously awesome.

Scout could hear the Engineer snore, and he considered it safe to turn around and look at the man.

Engineer was sleeping tight, and he snored, but Scout didn't mind.

The man looked really carefree, and all the wrinkles he had when he smiled had disappeared. The man's nose was nearly buried in to the pillow, but Scout could still see the crook that the man had. Scout secretly loved it. IT made Engineer's face have some character. The man had thick, yet light colored eyebrows, and Scout liked that. The man's lips were thin and and his hair was very short. Scout was sure that the man's hair was either dirty blonde or light brown, but from hair so short no-one could ever say for sure.

Engineer was peaceful and relaxed, and usually the man's company tended to have the same affect on Scout, which was the full reason for Scout falling asleep soon that night, and he was dreaming of Engineer with his broad shoulders and defined back.

The next day Scout was pleased when engineer had asked for him to go for a walk. Usually Scout did all the asking, but he was glad to know that Engineer enjoyed the walks more than he knew. At the start Engineer had complained about how he was not used on taking daily walks, but it seems that his person had just grown in to Engineer.

They were taking a quite early walk, so the air was still a little bit cold, even if Scout knew that it would soon be quite hot when the sun got all the way up. He had worn his hoodie, but he had a t-shirt under it because he knew that the heat would get to him at some point.

Engineer had picked up a small rock that he kept throwing up and catching it as he talked by Scout. The rock was the perfect kind if you were looking forwards to playing ducks and drakes. A small, flat stone that fitted your palm. Engineer had been talking a lot about his newest project, telling that now that he had the right parts, he was very close to a breakthrough with it. Scout felt glad for him. "It's going to be awesome, I can't wait to be able to show you." The Engineer talked, and Scout was glad to listen, while he occasionally threw in a question or two of his own. "So you are not going to show or tell me about it until it's finished?" Engineer shook his head, and grinned sorrily. "Nah. I'll just let you pile up all that excitement, and harvest it all at the end. You'll love it." Engineer said, and They kept on walking. They were already past the Sniper dock, and they were now turning around the corner of the TwoFort main building, and that's when they saw the RED Scout.

He was throwing his ball at the wall, and catching it when it sprung back. Scout scowled immediately when he saw the other, and their reaction was mutual.

"I see, so the handicapped is going for a stroll to catch some fresh air, poor Engineer has to take care you you like a little baby." The RED Scout scowled, and grinned maliciously.

"One day I will get back at you!" Scout yelled, and the Engineer put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from provoking the RED Scout. Engineer was completely stiff and nervous, squeezing Scout's shoulder harder than he had to.

"Aww, look at you, both horrified and weak." Scout tried to get at him to hit him, but Engineer didn't let him go.

"Well, I better scram, looks like your puppy is getting all aggro on me." The RED Scout said at Engineer, and he casually whistled as he walked up the stairs that led straight to the attic. The stairs were outside since the building was old and the attic was commonly used for storage.

"Oh real mature! Thanks for finding my weakness, the fucking stairs!" Scout yelled, and Engineer finally let go since he knew that Scout couldn't possibly get at him now. "That Scout is such a menace. I wish someone could throw him off his throne." Engineer hissed, and and Scout snatched the rock he had been toying with. "Throw him off, what a brilliant idea." He threw the rock, and they both could see it wobble in the air, but the fly path was steady. Scout had been the best aim and steadies arm of his family, making his brother's jealous of his pitches on the field.

The rock hit the RED Scout in the side of his head, near the temple, and the man fell on his knee at the stairs, but Scout wasn't satisfied because he hadn't toppled them over.

"You better think twice before starting to bluster at me!" Scout yelled, and Engineer silenced him quickly, and against his consent started to steer him on the other direction to take them away from the RED Scout who planned murder.

"That must be the most idiotic thing you have ever done!" The engineer yelled, and he was obviously mad at Scout. "He deserved it." Scout mumbled, and he was definitely pouting. "That's not the point. You will get yourself killed with that attitude." Engineer hissed, and Scout retaliated: "Yeah? Because that is the outcome that I have been anticipating. I better go with a kick just to keep my pride!" Engineer was taken aback, and he sighed. "You are an absolute moron." He said, and sat on one of his garden chairs and buried his face in his hands.

"You can't deny that it was satisfying." Scout said, and imitated the pitch, taking aim in to an invisible target, and throwing. Engineer peeked at him from between his fingers, and a chuckle escaped him.

"Ha! That was totally a laugh there!" Scout got excited, and wheeled closer to Engineer to ruffle his head through his helmet. "Hey, stop that." Engineer laughed, and tried to take Scout down in one huge bear hug, efficiently cutting off Scout's resistance.

Scout laughed as Engineer held him still, and soon his laughter died. He noticed that his head was in the crook of Engineer's neck, and he could smell oil, gasoline, and the weird smell of welding on him. Under all those smells Scout could notice Engineer's smell a tiny bit, but it was nearly covered by all the other smells, especially soap that Engineer had used to fight off the grime in his hands.

"You have quite the throw in you." Engineer said as he let go of Scout. Scout couldn't say if he was relieved or disappointed, but he hoped that he wasn't blushing too noticeably, but on the other hand, with all the sun he had been getting lately, Engineer couldn't hopefully notice the blush from his tanned skin.

"I just remembered something." The Engineer said suddenly, and quickly disappeared in to the trailer. Scout had no idea what just happened. The man was not gone for long though, until he quickly returned, and he held his left hand behind his back.

"What you got there?" Scout asked and he sounded confused. He was leaning awkwardly in his wheelchair, and tried to fix his position a little.

"I saw this at the store today, and It reminded me of you. I thought that, since I wasn't sure if you would be enjoying your pat that much now, I decided to get you ball still." Engineer smiled as he gave Scout a real baseball. White ball, made from genuine cow leather. "You can train on that pitch of yours, even though I can tell that you haven't lost your skill." Engineer grinned, and Scout had his hands all over the ball. He liked the smoothness and smell of a brand new ball.

"This is so cool." Scout said in awe, and threw it up and down a little. It was the perfect weight, and fit perfectly in his hand.

"Seriously, thanks!" Scout cheered, and threw the ball from one arm to another. "Would you train pitching with me? Please? We don't have to stand far." Scout asked, and he pleaded with his eyes. He was really excited about being able to do something so simple as to pitch a ball, but that was the closest to what he had been doing before when he was a Scout for the BLU.

"Sure." Engineer agreed, and they went a little further from the Trailer to play. Engineer was worried for his windows.

Pitching baseball had been awesome. Engineer was totally crap at it, but it was still fun. Engineers pitches were always too much to one or the another direction, going too far or too short, and only could catch the ball only some of the time, but regardless of that, he enjoyed wheeling after the ball and throwing it again. Engineer keep saying sorry for all his crap throws, which was a lot, and always Scout would insist that it was not a big deal, because seriously, it wasn't.

"Where do you get all this energy?" The Engineer panted after they had been throwing the ball for hours already. "I don't even notice weariness, I just enjoy this so much." Scout threw the ball back to Engineer, and Engineer passed it back, and leaned on his knees. "I need to have a break." He announced, and Scout nodded, lowering the ball on his lap as he had actually managed to catch it this time. "You have already gotten better at your throws." Scout praised, and The engineer shook his head disbelievingly. "And I'm not just saying that, you know."

Engineer shook his head again, and he slowly walked back to the trailer, Scout hot on his heels. "I'm starving." Engineer mumbled, and got him and the Scout to the kitchen where they made food and ate. Scout felt amazing after being able to play ball with engineer. He should ask the man to do that again sometime.

"I think that I should get some actual work done." Engineer said, as he stood up. Scout noticed that the man was a little tired, but very insistent on going. "Okay, I'll be good." Scout said, and Engineer ruffled his hair. "I know you will." He said, and he was out of the door, and Scout was smiling after him like a goon.

At first Scout had been really bored in the trailer, but eventually he had just went to sleep. He had thought about many things, that day, the Engineer, the RED Scout, the Engineer, the other RED's and what they would possibly think of him, Sniper, the engineer again, and the fact that he could no longer walk, but how he was getting surprisingly used to it. Of course not being able walk was difficult and frustrating, but if that let him spend time with the Engineer, then so be it.

He had not really even noticed about how often he spent time thinking about Engineer, spending time with him, and wishing that he could spent even more time with him. Engineer was amazing, and he was smart. Scout was seriously falling for him mad, and he was surprisingly fine with that.

And with those thoughts he fell asleep, and dreamed about him and Engineer taking an actual walk, because in his dream world Scout didn't need the wheelchair to move.


	8. Chapter 8

Scout woke up with a jolt as he suddenly noticed that the Trailer was shaking violently by heavy foot steps. He opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was that it was sunny outside, which led in to a question of how long had he been asleep for? The second thing he noticed was that Engineer came running by his side, and started to violently shake his shoulder.

"Scout, get up, I finally finished this project!" Engineer yelled, and Scot had to cover his ears and push Engineer off his face. As nice as it was to see the man's face the first thing in the morning, he still appreciated the ability to breath air that had not just been exhaled by someone else.

"I'm up, I'm up. How long was I asleep?" He asked, and pushed himself up. "When did you go to sleep?" Scout asked further, and Engineer shook his head. "I had no time to sleep. It's already noon." Scout rubbed his eyes and stared disbelievingly at Engineer. He had not slept so long in months, nearly ears. He was surprised how he had been able to do so now.

"Stop dawdling about, dress up, you have to see this!" Engineer repeated, and threw Scout with his clothes.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"

Scout groggily started to pull on his clothes, as Engineer was impatiently waiting. He barely had time to pull on the last of his clothes when Engineer already picked him up, and Scout felt himself like a small kid who was being rushed to daycare by his dad who was already late for work.

Engineer took him outside, and laid him on his wheelchair. Scout was already reaching for the wheels to start pushing, but Engineer insisted that he would push Scout for this time. Scout shrugged, he didn't really know where Engineer was taking him, and Engineer seemed to be in a hurry. Besides, he was still in his post sleep mode, he kept yawning all the time.

Scout sat still as Engineer took him to the shed, parking Scout right outside, while he went to get something from the inside. Scout didn't have the time to guess about what was going on when Engineer already showed up, holding something in his hands. They looked like something taken straight out from some kind of steam punk movie, and Scout had no idea what they were.

Engineer brought them over, and laid them in Scout's lap. "What do you think?" Engineer asked, and Scout raised a brow. He picked up one of the two things, and paid close attention to them.

There was a rather big metallic, round, object at the end. It was hollow from the inside. Scout looked inside the round part, out of plain curiosity, and he saw an electrical circuit inside, with a lot of sharp sticks jutting up from it. Scout had no idea what it was supposed to do. The metallic object it had been installed in to looked rather bleak to the outside. It was just a round, metallic object, but there were holsters on the side, about half a dozen of them. Scout had no idea where they would be fastened to, but they would probably make sure that the rest of the contraption was held on to whatever it was to be attached on.

On the other side of the round part there was a huge iron ball, probably meant to be used as a joint, because Scout could bend the part back and forth. In the ball there was also a big cock wheel. The ball was between two round objects, and there was a piston attached to the round part. At the end of the piston there was an metallic box, and in the metallic box there was another cock wheel. The cock wheels were attached to each other by a rubber band with tracks on it.

The metallic box had two other metallic boxes going onwards from it, and they all were attached to each other by small metallic poles, kind of like the wheels of the railway engine in trains. All in all the thing Scout held in his hands was more than weird. It was ugly, crude looking, and Scout had no idea how it was to be used. He tried to move the metallic boxes, and notice that they allowed little bit movement, and there was cloth attached between each of the metallic boxes to Scout couldn't see between them, but he felt like he had no need to.

"Yeah, looks great... Whatever it is. Must have taken quite a while to make, eh?" Scout mumbled, and he tried to grin. He tried to move the thing in his hands, and he realized that there was a joint that could bend 180 degrees, and in his mind that held no purpose what so ever. "No offense, but what is this?" Scout asked in confuse, and Engineer gave him a weird look that was supposed to say "You really don't know?" as he held the other identical peace in his hand.

"It's a leg, don't you see?" He asked, and when Engineer put in against the ground so that the metallic boxes formed the sole, the piston formed the shin, and the ball was the angle, and the weird round part with the circuit on it was still a little bit mystery to Scout, since it ended about the halfway to a man's tight, which really didn't make it in to a whole leg. "Yeah, I can now kind of see that." Scout said carefully, still not quite getting in to the great plan.

"Scout." Engineer said, and looked him in to his eyes, with a pleading look. Scout could barely see the other's eyes through the thick goggles he wore but when he did, he felt like he should be getting whatever the Engineer was desperately trying to show him. "I made them for you."

Scout blinked his eyes a couple of more times. "What?" He exclaimed, and looked at the legs another time, this time with feeling. The legs were still ugly, but he saw that they could actually work.

"Is this for real? Can it really work?" He asked, an held the legs in to his hands so tight that he was scared that he might break them, so he loosened his hold.

"Yeah. But it's a prototype. I wished you might want to try?" Engineer asked, and gently held the leg in his arms. He took the leg closer to Scout, so that he it was where it would be attached. Scout really could see the legs working one day. "Hell yes I want to try. Let's put them on." Scout insisted, and held the leg closer to him. "How to these things work?" Scout grunted as he held the leg by his stump, not understanding how they were supposed to be held in place.

Engineer laughed at him wholeheartedly. "Not like that, you dummy. They have to be attached first!" Scout lifted his head from the legs to look at the Engineer. "How?"

"It's not that easy. It will hurt." Engineer insisted, and showed the circuit at Scout again. "This has to installed to your leg." Engineer showed that the up most ring could be separated from the joint ball, and Scout nodded. "We could make you several legs to choose from, but this is only the prototype. It will hurt." Engineer showed the fastenings again that were hanging from the round part with the circuit. "These fastenings need to be inserted in to your leg, like needles." Engineer moved the sharp needle like fastenings with his fingers, and Scout swallowed. They looked so thick, and crude. They would seriously hurt.

"I don't care." Scout said, and looked at the leg. "I might be able to walk again. I will take the risks." He mumbled, and he could already vision himself walking, running, and playing baseball again. He could become himself again. He could walk through that damn trailer door by himself again. He was overwhelmed with emotions, and he felt like he could cry. Except men don't cry. He decided with grasping the prosthesis on his hands like a lifeline.

"This is amazing Engineer." Scout murmured, and hugged the leg against him. "This is the best news I have ever heard. Thanks." Scout hugged the Engineer. He was so eternally grateful, there was no words big enough to describe this.

"Thank, thank you so much." He mumbled, and engineer patted his back. "It's no big deal." Scout nodded his head and sniffed. He was going to be able to walk again. He would stop being a handicap.

Scout had calmed down considerably as he watched Engineer prepare for the procedure that was needed to attach the prosthesis. When engineer asked if he was ready to install them, he nodded, and told him to start immediately. And that was how Scout had found himself strapped in to one of Engineer's metallic tables by his arms, head, legs, and waist. He couldn't move at all. "This is just a precaution. This will hurt. I don't want you trashing all over the place." Engineer said, and Scout nodded. He preferred that Engineer didn't sugarcoat things, but told the situation straight as it was. "I'm ready." Scout nodded, and braced for the pain.

Pain that he had never been able to expect to hurt so much.

It hurt nearly worse than the amputation, or what little he remembered of that. Engineer had pushed the leg in place, and the spikes in the circuit sank in to his skin. Engineer had to install parts, burn his leg and poke it, tie things together and to all kinds of things that Scout didn't want to think about. It took hours, and then finally Engineer brought a big machine in to the table. The machine was fastened to his leg, and on the metallic prosthesis, and it pushed them more tightly together, and Scout yelled in pain. He tried to fight himself fee and escape, the tears were flowing hot against his cheeks, and he thought that his leg was going to fall off. He thought that the little restraint he had left of his ability to control his trashing and screaming had left him as his bone was going to shatter under the pressure. Or that was how it felt. And then the fasteners were put in place, and Scout thought that he couldn't handle more pain.

"Please, don't faint, you will have to be awake so the nerves can connect with the prosthesis." Engineer said, and held Scout's arm. Scout held Engineer so tight he thought he might break his hand, but Engineer didn't let go. The grasp was short lived as Scout felt his arm lacking it's normal strength, and he noted that he had to actually concentrate on holding the hand in order to not let go.

Scout cried loud and painful tear, and when the leg was finally installed, he couldn't anymore feel his leg at all. The pain radiated everywhere in his body, and he was sure that he had never felt so much pain.

"And for the other leg." The Engineer said, and Scout tried to fight himself free as hard as he could with a burst of sudden strenght. "Please no!" He cried, and he swung around so hard that he was sure that he would eventually faint for all his efforts. "Please Scout, we have to get this over with." Engineer said, and Scout cried. "It hurts!" He yelled, and Engineer looked at him apolitically. "We have to." He said, and started with the other leg, ignoring Scout's cries. Scout was forced to be awake during the whole operation, and he thought that the pain would never end.

"Scout, it's over." Engineer said, and Scout was too tired to answer. It seemed like hours had passed, and the pain was everywhere in his body, so hard that he thought that he had lost all feeling, but when Engineer touched him he whimpered as the pain returned. "Scout, I'll take you inside." Engineer said, and Scout was too tired to answer.

When Engineer lifted him up Scout groaned in pain. It felt like his legs weighed a ton and tried to tear him apart. It was no wonder, they were made of fucking steel now. He felt like he was constantly falling from Engineer's grasp as the man had to constantly shift Scout's position to make him stay put. Scout felt like the legs were there to take him down.

Engineer took him to his trailer, and laid Scout in his bed, and put a cover over him.

"Please, try to get some sleep. Everything will be better tomorrow, I promise." Engineer said, and Scout was too tired to nod his head or say a word. Engineer only sighed as he got in to bed too. He had not slept either.

But Scout couldn't sleep. Or at least, he couldn't fall asleep. The pain made him too uncomfortable, even if he was both physically and mentally drained. It took him hours to fall asleep and when he did he was eternally grateful for the white nothingness he dreamed of. No nightmares, no dreams, no pain, no cold or hot, no anything. Just white.

Scout woke up late the next day. He had not noticed that his body would need so long to rest, but he understood that. "Scout, are you okay?" Engineer asked, and Scout noticed that the man had been looking over at him for this whole time.

"I can't wheel my legs." Scout rasped. His throat was killing him, Engineer smiled. "Of course you can't, they are made of metal." Engineer commented, and Scout grinned too. He had no idea what was so fun, but he smiled. "My legs are seriously killing me." Scout commented, and Engineer nodded. "I understand. I expect them to hurt for a week at least. It will take a while to get used to them, and I really hope that your legs wont start to reject the prosthesis."

Scout nodded as he tried to wet his paper dry mouth. Engineer offered him a glass full of cold water. Scout drank eagerly, and thanked Engineer.

After that he tried to raise his leg, but the metal was too heavy. "Don't. You will only hurt yourself." Engineer said, and pressed Scout's leg so that it was back against the mattress. "I recommend that you use your wheelchair. I doubt that you can use those legs yet. You are not strong enough, and you will have to learn to use those legs. Not to mention that you have to reshape your leg muscles. Right now you couldn't even stand with them, not even if you were holding support from a wall. You need to give it some time and take it slow." Engineer explained, and Scout nodded. It made sense, even if he had been expecting to just miraculously regain his ability to walk over the night. Secretly he knew that it was just wishful thinking.

"I'm starving." Scout said, and Engineer nodded. "I'll make you some food, but please, stay this day in bed." Engineer said, and looked at Scout with a look that obviously added the "Or else." In to the statement, Scout nodded. "Promise?" Engineer asked, and pointed at Scout with his finger. "Yeah, I promise." Engineer nodded with satisfaction. "Good. I will get the food ready."

Scout watched the man go to the kitchen, and when he no longer could see the Engineer, he reached for the pen and paper in the night table, and started to scrabble on the paper. He was a poor drawer, but he didn't care. He drew. He took to using the paper as a mix of diary and a sketch book.

"Today I got my legs back" Scout wrote with his horrible chicken scratch, and he drew a picture of himself without his legs, and then with his legs. He started to draw tiny sketched of himself and Engineer.

"Here's your food." Engineer said as he took over the food, and Scout thanked him. The food was delicious, and he was grateful. The chicken soup was warm, and tender. It was just what he needed.

"Nice drawings." Engineer commented, and Scout nodded "Thanks." He said, and after he was done eating, he took the papers back, drawing a picture of himself and Engineer, both on a sofa. Engineer was sitting up, smiling at him while Scout slept on the sofa with his legs on Engineer.

"That's a cute picture. Hey, you want me to put on the movie I got? You never took to watching it." Engineer said, and he picked up the movie. "I kind of forgot about it. Scout said, just smiled at Scout. "I don't mind." Engineer said, and he got to the TV. The TV was very small, tiny old little thing, and it was fastened to the ceiling right over the end of Scout's bed. It was at the perfect location if one wanted to look at the TV while in bed. Engineer put the disc in, and did the settings before he put the remote on the night table as the start credits started to roll.

"Mind if I join you?" Engineer asked, and sat on the edge of Scout's bed, and Scout understood that the man was asking if he could join him in the bed. "Of course!" Scout said hurriedly as he blushed so hard that he was sure that his neck was red just as his cheeks. Scout tried to look away and scuttle away so that there was space for Engineer, but Engineer took a hold of him, and moved Scout so the man was between the wall and Engineer. Scout blushed as the Engineer was so close. Scout could feel the man breathing,and he could feel his warmth. Scout heard rustling of clothes, and looked at Engineer. "Do you mind?" Engineer asked, as he put his arm under Scout's head, holding Scout like they were cuddling on the bed.

"N-no, not at all." Scout stuttered, and Engineer pulled the cover over them both. Scout was silent during the entire movie, but he couldn't concentrate on the movie at all. He barely knew what the movie was about, because the only thing he could concentrate on was Engineer.

He was eternally grateful for Engineer, and he finally understood that he really did like him, a lot. He liked him more than he wanted to let on.

Scout let himself get lost in the other, and once the movie ended, he just fell asleep again, waiting to be released from bed rest.


	9. Chapter 9

Scout awoke the next morning, and he noticed that he was being used as a giant teddy bear by the Engineer. The other was still fully dressed, Obviously he had fallen asleep after the movie just like Scout had. Actually, Scout was very fine with this situation. He could still smell the faint trace of Engineer's cologne, but the man smelled more like himself now. Scout liked the smell. Engineer smelled like oil, grease and cloth washing powder. He could hardly resist hugging Engineer right back, but decided against it. He could control himself better.

"Hey, Engineer?" Scout asked, and he shook the man by his shoulder. "Engineer?" Scout asked, and he shook a bit harder. The Engineer made a very drowsy, gruff murmur as he tried to protest.

"Wake up, I'm bored." Scout said, and Engineer just hugged him closer and buried his face in to Scout's side. The movement causet the other's 5 o'clock shadow brush against Scout's neck, making Scout ticklish."Hey now, don't get all handsy on me." Scout laughed awkwardly, and tried to gain distance between them, and his wiggling was probably the thing that finally woke Engineer.

"Scout!" He exclaimed, and pushed himself up to sit "Good morning." He mumbled, and hurriedly got up, and started to smooth down his overalls. "Erm, sorry about that." Engineer said, and Scout shook his head, seeing that Engineer was obviously awkward. "It's totally cool." he said, and pushed himself up to sit.

"Would you mind taking me outside? I want to start training with these legs. We could cook outside." Scout suggested, and tried to move by lifting himself up and throwing himself forwards, but he noticed that with the heavy prosthesis attached to him, this was now way harder than what it was before. Way harder as in nearly impossible.

"Yeah, I've got you." Engineer picked Scout up, and carried him on his arms. He had one arm on Scout's back, and one under the knee, and Scout felt awkward by this. He didn't mind the closure this time, but he hated the extra wight of the prosthesis. His legs were swinging about, looking like they were just loose weight. The weight felt horrible on his legs, pulling and aching from the part where the prosthesis was attached. It felt uncomfortable, heavy and tiring, and the he was pained. Moving the prosthesis hurt, and the pain was similar to moving with a broken limb that had not yet been plastered, or moving a tooth that was about to fall off.

"My legs hurt." Scout complained, and Engineer shushed him. "It's okay. It's supposed to hurt for some time. I can't promise you that the pain will go away during the next week. Eventually it will fade." Scout nodded and he felt uncomfortable. He hoped that he could by somehow speed up the healing process.

Engineer brought Scout outside and he laid him on the wheelchair, and he himself went to fetch the necessities to cook a proper stew on the campfire. He thought that some potato and vegetable stew would be the perfect call for today.

Scout kept fiddling with his legs. He tried to lift his tight and move the prosthesis, and he felt uncomfortable. The only positive thing now was that his pant legs covered the prosthesis. It was very ugly to look at.

"Could you roll up your pant legs?" Engineer asked, and Scout looked at him wildly. "Why?" He asked, and felt very reluctant to comply. "I'm worried that the fabric will get between the cock wheels. You better not take that risk with the prototype prosthesis." Engineer said, and mixed the stew at the same time. Scout scoffed as he complied, being really slow as he reluctantly rolled the pant legs up. "But these legs are so ugly." Scout whined, and stared at the mechanic leg that looked really out of place when attached to him. "I know, but it will have to do for now. They are the only prototype I have." Engineer said, and Scout sighed. There was nothing he could do about the legs. "Can you at least make the next prototype lighter? I dunno, use aluminum or something." Scout grumbled, and shoved his hands across his chest with a huff. "Engineer laughed at his antics. "Sure."

Scout tried to learn to walk with the legs by moving the leg forwards, stepping on the ground with it, and rolling onwards in his wheelchair to take another step. It was slow and frustrating, and the leg was really stiff and heavy. All the moving hurt, but Scout was adamant to keep on trying. He kept on going until Engineer asked him to eat. Scout ate slowly, his head in his thoughts as he tried to figure out ways to train his legs better.

"Maybe we could try that another way. I could hold you up and you could try walking." Engineer suggested, and Scout nodded. It sounded like a good point. Scout put his empty plate on a stack with Engineer's plate, and he lifted his arms up to be held. Scout was picked up from the wheelchair, and Engineer held him close to his chest and Scout tried to take small steps forwards. Engineer didn't allow him to lay any weight on his legs, but he was glad to see that he could actually lift the damn things on his own, even of they were only small steps. He kept on trying, and he managed to walk for several meters until he became so sore that he couldn't take a single step forwards. The joint hurt so bad with every step that Scout felt like the prosthesis might fall off at any point.

"Holy Christ, what is that monster?!" Someone exclaimed behind them, and Engineer swung Scout around so fast that his legs actually whipped about, swinging from side to side, making Scout yelp in pain. Engineer kept apologizing.

"Jesus Engineer, what have you done?" The Sniper asked, and he looked at Scout as if he had seen a ghost. "You have created a cyborg."

"Hey, it's cool, one day he will be able to walk again." The Engineer said, and took Scout back to the wheelchair.

"How very eerie." Sniper said, as he proceeded to poke the prosthesis and Scout's leg, making Scout flinch every time he hurt thanks to the man's teasing.

"Hey, stop it, it hurts!" Scout yelled, and tried to push Sniper further, but thanks to Sniper long limps, he was able to keep distance but still reach to poke him. "Bullshit. Metal ain't got feeling in to it." Sniper grunted as he proceeded with his groping.

"It's like new and better version of Scout. Scout 2.0" Sniper joked, and smiled then. "Scout 2.0, that's cool. I'll keep calling you that." He teased, and finally went away from teasing Scout.

"Why are you here anyways?" Scout asked, and Sniper shook his shoulders. "Well, I thought that I was smelling food, so I made my way here, and what do I see? A robot hybrid of this annoying kid I found was just dawdling about." The Sniper mumbled, and then noticed the food that was still warm above the fire. "But now that you remind me, do you mind if I grab a bowl?" Engineer swung his hand in a motion that told him to help himself "Feel free to serve yourself." Engineer said, and sat down on a garden chair. Sniper took himself some of the stew, but kept talking between mouthfuls. "Does that machine hurt you?" He asked Scout, and Scout looked back at him as if he hadn't expected the question. "Well, yes. It does. It hurts a lot actually, but I hope that the pain will settle down eventually." He said, and rubbed his legs. He hoped that a little massage would cool down his nerves that were currently singing hosanna in pain. "But you will be able to walk again?" Sniper asked, and looked at Scout's leg, and Scout could see that he was not attracted by what he saw.

Scout had not been too fond of Sniper's attention, but now that he didn't have it, he felt himself ugly, unworthy, flawed. He just didn't want to be looked at with disgust. Maybe one day someone saw past the prosthesis, or he would get better looking prosthesis if nothing else.

"Yah, I hope so." Scout mumbled, and looked away. "It will take a while to learn to use these, but I hope so." He said, and pushed himself about.

"I'm going to take a walk." He said, and Sniper yelled after him "Don't sprain yourself!" Scout flipped him a bird, but didn't stop moving "I meant a metaphorical walk!".

After he had gone for a while, he noticed that Engineer had come along with him, and Scout didn't mind. He was always glad of the others company.

The following days were kind of the same. Scout spent most of his time outside either trying to learn to walk, or training his arms. He didn't think that he needed that much arm muscle now if he could master the walking again, but it had never hurt anyone to gain some extra strength.

After several days he managed the moving of his legs, but he was still too unstable to walk, and he couldn't carry his whole weight with his legs only, the pain to stand on his own was too great. Engineer had tried to help him by carrying him as Scout walked, and he had mastered that quite well now, he would just have to withstand the pain it took to stay up. He had asked engineer if the pain would always be there, but he had shrugged. Engineer couldn't say for sure because he had no experience on that field, but he guessed that sooner or later his skin would harden and his leg would get stronger, and he would adjust to the prosthesis. He said that he hoped that the pain would eventually fade.

Scout had kept whining about the pain for long enough for Engineer to get him a pair of clutches, which Scout was eternally grateful for. Now he wouldn't need to lay his full weigh on the prosthesis. He could start putting his weight on them a little at a time.

Engineer had even showed him how he could remove the prosthesis. The metal around his tight was there forever unless it broke, but everything below the knee could be removed quite easily. Sometimes Scout took the prosthesis off so he could have a moment off the training and constant pain. He still hurt a little, but the pain was lessened enormously when the prosthesis were off. He had taken a habit of sleeping with his prosthesis off.

He didn't stop training thou. He was adamant that one day he would master the art of walking again. He was even more eager to believe that one day he could run just like in the old times.

It was a couple of days later when Scout finally managed to stand up on his own without the clutches. The pain was too big for him to stand up for long, but it was progress none the less. He had not taken to account that when he carried his own weight it was more difficult to bend the knee part of the prosthesis, and his walking was awkward. It was as if he was walking with stick legs, just awkwardly swinging from one leg to another.

"Well look at what we have here? Are you trying to get up from the dirt?" Scout whipped around, and almost fell. It was really hard to keep balance with the prosthesis, especially since he had nearly no control over the sole of the prosthesis.

"What do you want?" Scout demanded, and stared in the eye of the RED Scout.

"Nothing. Just came to look on the experiment. Scout 2.0 I have heard. Cute. But I'm also here to warn you." The RED Scout said, and Scout growled at him.

"I'm here to give you final warning. You should better leave, or the next time I see you will be the last." The RED Scout made a movement of quickly pulling his fingers past his throat, making it very clear that he would cut Scout's neck the next time they met.

"Noted." He hissed, and balled his hands in to tight fist. The RED Scout just rolled his eyes.

"It seems that you have attached yourself to our team like a leech. I don't like that." The RED Scout growled, and walked closer. He walked so close that he was only a breath away from the other Scout. "You have become the Engineer's pet. Always at his feet."

"I'm no pet." Scout growled, and was startled when the RED Scout laughed loudly. "As if! But you should be grateful. If you weren't under constant watch I would have killed you already."

"What is stopping you." Scout spat. He tried to look intimidating, but when his legs trembled from the excess strain, he knew that he couldn't thread a child.

"Nothing is stopping me. I could do it right now, right here. I just prefer being able to off people without people clinging in the picture. I hate the fuzz." RED Scout looked as if he had a sore taste in his mouth.

"Well do it then. I dare you!" Scout growled, and tried to be intimidating by showing himself up to the other, trying to force the other to take a step back but with no avail.

"I would be glad to beat you up right now. I'm tempted to, really, but my mom taught me to not pick on lesser people. And I'm in a hurry. There is a meeting soon. But don't worry, we will be in touch." The RED Scout smirked gleefully, and turned around. H e took a step away to leave, but he stopped suddenly. Before Scout could even brace himself his fave met the hardness of the RED Scout's fist, and he fell on the ground with a loud thumb and clatter of metal. He immediately raised his hand to his jaw to feel if it was still on place, only to feel that it was. IT hurt a shitton to move his jaw, but it was still moving at least. "That's for throwing me with a rock." The RED Scout growled, and he took a couple of running steps forwards before he kicked Scout on the side of his face with full force, making Scout feel his neck snap painfully, and his head was aching so hard that he couldn't even lift it off the ground. "And that's for trying to stand up to yourself." The RED Scout sneered and turned around and walked away.

Scout held his head in his arms, and he could see droplets of blood hit the ground. He could feel that there was a huge bruise forming on his cheek and temple, and that his lip and the side of his eye had torn open. He could taste blood, so he kept spitting on the ground. HE felt that he got a loose teeth in there, and he sucked up his bride and he reached in to pull tit out. He threw the bloody teeth on the ground, and he growled in pain.

That damn Scout would be the death of him eventually.

Scout picked himself up from the ground, and he tried to pull himself to his wheelchair, but the wheelchair escaped him. He groaned as he tried to will the hurt to vain.

He turned on his back and he took the cloth Engineer used to clean around the campfire to push against his face to try and stop the bleeding. He laid on his back on the ground as he tried to remember when Engineer would be back.

Scout knew about the meeting, since Engineer had already left to attend. Scout had been left alone, as Engineer trusted enough in him to have him wander.

Scout noticed that when he wasn't standing the pain on his legs was actually dulling gradually. That did not matter though, because all the pain that went away from his leg, was only coming back with vigor on his face.

But Scout couldn't help but think. He knew that the RED Scout's words were to be taken seriously. The next time meant business, and he would have to be prepared. He was so worried about thinking the RED Scout, that he didn't notice it as someone crept behind him.

"Good evening Gentleman."

Scout turned his head hastily around, and saw the RED Spy behind him. The man was standing so straight Scout seriously thought that the man had been tied on a pole. Scout was about to open up his mouth to question the other's presence, but snapped his jaws shut when he remembered that it wasn't wise to talk to strangers around these parts.

"Oh relax, I'm not here to harm. Besides, it seems that someone beat you to it." The Spy said and guffawed at his joke. The laugh was short and court, and held no real feeling in it. Once spy saw that Scout was clearly not amused, he laid a scrutinizing look at one of the garden chairs, judging if it was clean enough to sit on. It must have been suitable, since the Spy sat on it after swiping his hand over the seat to be certain. The man looked gay as he only sat at the mere edge of the seat, as if the seat would somehow contaminate his precious behind.

The spy looked at Scout with a scrutinizing look, no doubt sneering at his mangled face, and sneering at the fact that Scout was laying on the dirt.

"I must admit that I have been keeping an eye on you." The Spy said as he laid his legs forwards, throwing his right leg over the left, throwing a bit of dirt on Scout's face at the process. He also crossed his fingers and laid his hands on his lap casually.

Scout had noticed that the man had been watching him, but he guessed that it was Spy's job to know everything about everyone.

"I have noted that you have been working quite a lot for your prowess, and that you have quite a lot of friends already, all things considered. Engineer seems really affectionate towards you, and somehow you have even got the Sniper on your side." The Spy said, and seemed to be straightening his sleeve. "I also note that you have gained enemies already." The Spy laughed, and shook his head. Scout had to resist his urge to yell "Obviously" at the other. "I must admit that everyone at the 2fort seems to hate you, or is indifferent about you, but the RED Scout loathes you. And knowing his background, not a surprise."

"What are you getting at?" Scout interrupted the Spy's chitchat, really not being on the same track of thought with the Spy. Scout didn't care about his no speak policy. If the man wanted to hurt him, he would have done so already. He was laying on the floor defenselessly. He would have been an easy target. Scout simply couldn't understand the other's sudden need to tell him all this that he already knew.

"Well, I just found out this new gossip that has been going on about the Fort, and I thought that you might be interested." The Spy looked at Scout, who raised his brow at him. "I thought you hated me." Scout noted. He had never had problems with the Spy, but thanks to everyone's words about his infamous person, he assumed that everyone hated him by default.

"Don't get me wrong, I hate you just as much as everyone else, there is just another Scout in the campus I hate more than you at the moment. No need to be jealous." Sniper pushed himself up to stand, and and he turned around to look somewhere far off. "Why are you not at the meeting?" Scout asked, knowing that the meeting was the place where the Spy was supposed the at the moment. "And what for? I already know everything that's going on, even at the meeting." He said mysteriously, and grinned at Scout. "Would you follow me, and I'll show you where the rumors got their origin."

Scout considered his options. He was not allowed to wander, and it was not a good idea to trust a spy. He was curious though, and he doubted that no-one would notice his absence, besides, the man seemed to share a common enemy.

Scout didn't think it was wise to follow the Spy, but he realized that his fingertips were tingling with curiosity. He wanted to go, he wanted to know. He got up to stand, and took a hesitant step onwards. Spy's eyes were immediately by his feet.

"Does this bother you?" Scout asked, and stomped his leg to show his point. He might not be ready to walk all the way the Spy was going to take him, but he was damned if he gave up now that he knew that the other was already judging him. he was probably calling him weak and a freak in his mind as they were. Spy remained silent, but Scout got all the answers he was looking for from the man's face.

"Let's go." Scout said determinedly, and made himself walk, and he put all of his concentration in to walking like a normal being. He knew that it was difficult to bend his knee, and that the junction of the prosthesis and his leg hurt like hell with every step he took, but he was going to bite his teeth and take it. He was not going to be thought any less just because he had finally been given back his ability to walk.

They walked silently for a long while, and Scout was really regretting the whole idea of walking. He should have just taken his wheelchair instead. He was starting to walk like a robot, but he was too tired to fix it. He kept walking a couple of steps behind Spy, not trusting his back for the man.

Scout was surprised when Spy started a conversation.

"So you and Engineer get along, I have noticed." The Spy said, and didn't look back at the Scout, he just kept walking onwards. "Yeah. He's been good to me. He even made these legs for me." Scout said, and Sniper nodded, even if the faint movement was hard to see because Scout was constantly looking at the back of his head.

"So you have already settled, I take." The Spy said, and Scout had no idea where the man was going at, but he didn't see any harm in the questions, it was probably just curiosity that all Spies had. "Well, kinda. I enjoy his company, and I feel at home with him."

"So he is your friend." Scout nodded at that, but realized that Spy couldn't see him from behind. "Yeah. We are friends."

They walked for a while in Silence, but then Spy spoke again. "Sniper talks a lot about you."

"He does?" Scout had never thought that the Sniper would be talking to others about him, but he guessed that it was possible. The man had to have friends or acquaintances in his own team. He wasn't that surprised after all. "I guess that he grew fond of me too."

"He thinks highly of you. Are you sure that's all he feels?" Spy asked, and Scout huffed. "He can feel what he wants. I only see him as a friend." Scout scoffed. He was not mad at Sniper, he just hoped that the man stopped seeing him as a something he wasn't.

"I see." The Spy said, and they walked another couple of feet in silence. Spy wasn't the best of conversation partners, but it was better to talk than walk in silence. Scout always felt awkward when in silence.

"So do you like being in our team?" Spy asked, and Scout raised a brow, even if he knew that Spy couldn't see it. He had never felt like he was part of any team anymore, but he really didn't know what else to call it, because he wasn't a quest, but he wasn't a prisoner either. He just was.

"Well, I really don't know about the others in the RED team, but I like being with Engineer, and Sniper too, occasionally." He said, and Spy answered him with a plain "I see."

"So what would you be ready to give to be able to stay?" Scout hadn't expected that. He really hadn't thought that his stay had a expiration date on it, but he guessed that the RED wouldn't keep him forever. He thought about what would happen if they someday decided to kick him out. He could always return to his own team, if they took him back that was. But he had never felt at home there. He didn't have as good friends there as he now was with Engineer. He would miss him the most. He would probably have to return home to his boring life, being picked on by his brothers, and having to find a job. Scout was horrible at everything. He had barely gone to school, and he had no profession. He had nothing. If he left, he would be stuck doing crappy jobs in fast food places with horrible customers, living with his mother until the end of days. That was not what he wanted of his future. Eventually his mother would shoo him away, making him find his own place, own job, a girlfriend to bring in to every Christmas family dinner, and he would be completely alone in the world. He didn't want that. He missed Engineer already even if he was not really going anywhere. He didn't want to leave. If he could choose he would stay here forever. He would start doing simple things, anything to make himself useful to them. He would make it so that they would not just discard him, or kill him at that matter. He had never realized how crap his life was until he realized that this what he now had was the best thing that he could get, or had had so far. He was glad with how the things were now.

"Scout?" Spy's words suddenly got to him, and he snapped his head up. He hadn't noticed that he had sunk so completely in to his thoughts.

"I'll stay. I have no Idea what I can do or give to make sure that I can keep staying where I am, but once I find out, I'll be glad to stay. I'm glad with everything I have now. I'm not giving that up easily."

Spy turned to look at Scout to judge if he meant it, and he smiled when he saw that Scout had actually meant that. "Good. We are almost there."

They walked until they were at the top of a certain hill, and what Scout saw on the other side was the one of the most familiar things he had ever seen. Second to only his childhood home.

"It's the BLU base." He deadpanned, and looked at the Spy with confusion. "Why are we here?" He asked, and protected his eyes from the bright sun and the fast wind.

"Look." Spy pointed at the front yard, and Scout could see his old team there. The Blu Engineer was sitting by the campfire, playing his guitar. The Sniper telling them all a story about one of his adventures back at home, and Heavy and Medic were talking about something, heads almost touching, clearly not wanting to share whatever topic it was they were on about. The Pyro was tending the fire by firing his flamethrower at it now and then.

Demoman was drunk as usual, and the Soldier tried to watch over him, so he wouldn't fall on the campfire. It had happened once. Spy was leaning against the wall, looking over all of them.

"It's like I wasn't even missing." Scout mumbled, and sat down on the hill. His legs were killing him, and from this high he could see perfectly to the campfire even if seated.

"But who will do all the Scouting?" He asked. He knew that a Scout was important strategy wise, and he was sure that his team would be worried over him, looking for him.

"They have a Scout." The Spy said, and nodded at the doors of the base that now slammed open. There was another Scout there. He was young, blonde, and he laughed. He was happy, and he held the biggest bag of marshmallow in his hands that Scout had ever seen. He had never roasted marshmallow in his life, and Seeing the other Scout do so with his team made him jealous.

The other Scout ate his marshmallow greedily, as the other team members enjoyed theirs, and once he was done, he started explaining eagerly about something, and he used the stick which had been used to roast a marshmallow only a second ago to emphasize his point, swinging it about madly, almost poking someone's eye out. The others didn't mind though, they were laughing at his stories.

"Hey, that's no fair! No-one ever liked my stories." Scout mumbled, and used his hands to pull his prosthetic legs up so they were folded from the knee. He pressed his chin against the cold ball joint.

"You have already been replaced." The Spy said, and patted Scout on the back once. Scout gained no comfort from the gesture.

"Why did you show me this?" Scout asked, sounding sad. He sounded sad because he was. He had never been so close with his own team that the imposter was now.

"I wanted to show you that you have no team to return to." Spy said, and crouched down be on Scout's level. He did not sit, Scout thought that he didn't see ground clean enough to sit on.

"Well congratulations. You succeeded." Scout pouted, and hugged the cold prosthetic legs against his chest.

"I also showed this to you to tell you that you already got a team. You will just have to make yourself a spot in it." The Spy sighed, and looked at Scout.

"It's a mutual feeling between all of us RED. Everyone except Soldier hates the Scout we have to put up with. I don't care who you were, how crap you are at walking, but I want you to get over yourself, learn to run, and take your place. It's yours if you can take it." Spy got up, and started to walk away. He left Scout to the hill to sit in shock.

"The meeting ends after an hour." The Spy had said, and cloaked. Scout could not see him anywhere. "Say Hi to your mom." Scout could hear from the distance, which made him arch his brow. Whatever that meant. He did not pay attention to the last words. He remained sitting still on the hill, looking over his old team.

His old team. He realized, and got up.

He couldn't wallow in misery, he had to do something. He already had a great team, with friends and people who he would just need to win over, and he could get everything he had wanted to have. Friends, and somewhere to belong. And he could have it. And have it he would. Even if he would need to kill a man to get it.

Scout ran all the way back to the engineer's trailer. He didn't care that his legs hurt, he didn't care that he could taste blood in his mouth after running without having any proper exorcise in weeks.

He would train, and he would challenge the RED Scout, and he would win. He would make Engineer proud of him. He would make him grateful for doing all this for him. He would make himself a spot in this team, even if it was the last thing he would do.


	10. Chapter 10

The upcoming days Scout spent training himself. He was determined to be able to run properly with his legs, even though it was a nightmare all the way through. Engineer had been worried of him at first after seeing the bruises and finding out about the clash between the Scouts, but now he seemed amused by his efforts, but he had soon noticed that Scout was actually putting effort in to gaining better results faster.

Scout went to take walks and small running trips every now and then, and he tried to exorcise his upper leg muscles. One thing that was good about the prosthesis was that metal never got muscle aches.

Engineer has been looking over him all the time, making sure that he wouldn't hurt himself by outdoing himself. The man had enjoyed watching Scout walk and run about right after he had realized that Scout could actually do so now. Engineer had been so excited after he returned from the meeting, only to see Scout running at him. Engineer had scooped Scout in a bear hug and swirled him around as he frantically yelled "They work!" Over and over. Of course after closer inspection he noticed Scout's ruined face and missing tooth, but after a lot off fuzz about cleaning and taking care of the wounds, he settled down to watch Scout while he run loops just to demonstrate. Engineer had been worried about many things. He had worried that the junction might not be properly made, and the legs wouldn't be responding properly, he was afraid that Scout's leg would start to reject the prosthesis, and he was worried that even thou everything went well otherwise, Scout just couldn't learn to walk again. He was so relieved to see that all his worries had been in vain.

Engineer was very proud of the whole situation in itself. He was proud of himself for being able to make this happen, and he was proud of Scout to be able to achieve all this. Hell, he was proud of everybody.

"Engineer!" Scout yelled, and run to sit next to him, slopping on the garden chair in exhaust. "Ungh, these legs are so difficult." He mumbled, and gasped for breath.

Engineer straightened up, and he was always willing to hear feedback for his job. "How so?"

"Well, first of all, they weight, like, a ton! Totally not suitable for fast running. Also, the knee joint is stiff, I can't get the leg to straighten fast enough when I run. I have to slow down so the prosthesis will keep up." Scout complained, but he was secretly grateful for what little he had. He was probably wanting too much, but didn't care. He was glad to be able to walk, but he wouldn't mind being able to run.

"I see." The engineer mumbled, and Thought something hardly, and Scout could see his brows furrow with concentration. "It might be something with the design, I might be able to fix something up." He said, and tried to remember if there were any prosthesis legs he had seen before.

"Really?" Scout asked, sounding excited. "So you could, like improve all this?" Scout pointed at his legs, and smiled wide. "That'd be so awesome!" Scout laughed, and then his eyes widened with excitement. "I just remembered something!" Scout exclaimed.

"Oh my god, I need to show you something, look!" Scout slapped his arms on his legs and jumped up, swaying a little because his poor balance. Scout walked to the Trailer door, and opened it. He held the door frame for support. "Watch this, just, watch." He said, and lifted his leg as high as he could, which still wasn't quite high enough to reach the first step. The prosthesis weighted so much that he couldn't lift his leg as high as he used to, and since he couldn't really bend the leg in midair, it just hung about, but Scout didn't bother with it. The legs was only an inch too low to reach the first step, but he laid his prosthesis next to the step, and then slowly dragged hi leg to the side to the prosthesis settled on the step. "Ha, see, this is so awesome!" Scout yelled, and held tight on the door frame as he pulled himself up, and laid the other leg on the step too. The next step that led him through the doorway was not as high as the first step, so it was a breeze to get up to the trailer all by himself.

"Did you see that! That's so awesome, I can walk by myself now, this is like, the biggest achievement of my life!" Scout boasted, and Engineer laughed. He had no idea where the kid got all his energy from. "Well, that sounded weak, but you get my point. I mean, My life would sound pretty damn sucky if being able to walk through a door is my best achievement, but seriously? This is so awesome." Scout ranted, and Engineer shook his hand in a come hither motion.

"That's great, now try to get down."

Scout nodded eagerly, and went the first step down by keeping his prosthesis straight like a pole, which didn't really present any trouble, but the second step was a lot deeper, and Scout couldn't reach the ground by so. He tried to bend as much as he could, but with the leg on the step staying straight, he couldn't reach. "Ugh, well this is awkward." He tried, and tried to hop closer to the edge of the step to reach down more, but simply couldn't do it.

"Try to bend your knee." Engineer guided, and Scout huffed.

"What knee, I have no knee." Scout complained, and stepped back to the step, and sat on the threshold, from where he laid his legs on the ground and straightened himself up. "Ah, ha!" He yelled, and did a small victory fist pump, while Engineer sighed. "You should really train your knee. It is possible to bend it even when you are carrying your weight on it." Scout nodded, not questioning Engineer's word, but still, pending the knee was difficult. The leg was always straight when he stepped on it, and it remained so until he lifted his leg up the leg pended backwards, but straightened out again when he was about to take another step.

"I wish I had a flock of stairs so you could train them. It would be so hilarious watching you slide them down on your ass." Engineer laughed, and made Scout blush in a huff.

Engineer shook his head at the boy's reaction.

"Well, I think that the perfect exorcise for you would be to try and walk backwards." The Engineer instructed, and crossed his arms. "Give it a go." Scout frowned as he knew that he was back in to training, but tried it none the less. He wanted to get better.

Walking backwards was totally harder than he had ever expected it to be. He would have to bend his knee first, lay it on ground, straighten it up and repeat with the other leg, and try to keep his main direction behind him. He noted that it was really difficult, but absolutely possible. He realized that by moving his tight differently caused his knee to react to it. It was tasking, and time consuming, but he got the gist of it eventually.

If he laid his leg down on the ground, and kind of lifted his leg without actually raising the sole from the ground, but more like lowered himself down, got the favored outcome. It was awkward because he had a bad habit of pending his back while doing so, but after Engineer kept reminding him to straighten his back, Scout got the point. It took him several hours, but he was eventually able to walk backwards properly, instead of doing the most awkward penguin backwards shuffle he had ever seen. He was actually pleased. He even got to try the same method for walking normally, and instead of walking with his legs straight as poles, imitating penguin quite poorly, he managed to walk properly, even if it was doing something weird to his posture.

"Scout just try to walk with you back straight in the line with your legs. It looks like you walk with your knees first, and the rest of the body lagging behind like some teenager jaded of life." Engineer mocked, and Scout growled. It was difficult walking like this.

"Shut up, as if you could do any better." He growled, and tried again. It was difficult, because he seriously thought that it was necessary to bend down with his steps every time, and he couldn't help slouching.

"Just try to relax the leg, bend it down in a slight angle that causes the sole to bend, and thus it will also pend the knee." Engineer instructed, and Scout was surprised when it actually worked, but he refused to tell Engineer that. He was too proud to admit that he might have been right once again.

When the sole pend he could go forwards easier, faster, and it was kind of as he had springs on his feet. It was awesome.

"Well now it looks like you got it!" Engineer commented, and Scout couldn't make himself to tell the other to shut up. He was just glad that he had mastered this. He went to try the stairs again.

He got up quite same as he had before, but with less problem. Once he was up, he went down by adapting what he had just learned. He pend the knee he had his weight on and straightened the one out before him, and he realized that he actually managed to lover himself on the lover step properly, and repeated it with great success. "This is so cool." Scout mumbled, and took a couple of steps forwards. He was flabbergasted about how simple it had been.

"Well, I think that it went great. And I think that you should learn to put that in to your running too." Scout turned around to face Engineer, and placed his hands to his hips. "Hey, what's wrong with my running?!"

Engineer smirked an laughed , but covered his mouth quickly. "Nothing. If you intend to look like this when you run." Engineer got up, and started to run and imitate Scout. Engineer flung his legs to his side instead of pending them at all, looking like some retarded ostrich with it's legs plastered. Scout was so embarrassed.

"Or like this." Engineer said, and changed the way he ran and started to proceed by having his legs always straight, throwing one leg ahead the other, looking like one of those toy soldier that had a key on it's back. The key would be turned, and with all limps straight it would start marching onwards. That's what he looked like.

"No fair! I don't look like that!" Scout whined, and he was even more embarrassing by sounding like that.'

"Yes you do!" Engineer teased, and pointed at Scout while he went to retake his place in the garden chair.

"No I don't!" Scout argued, and Engineer nodded his head. "Show me."

"I, what?" Scout was about to argue some more, but was taken back by being told to actually do something.

"Well, okay, I will!" He said, and he was so nervous. He didn't want to make a goon of himself in front of the Engineer.

He started to walk like he had done a while ago, picking up speed little by little.

"I told you to run." Engineer teased, and Scout huffed. "I know!" He yelled, and picked even more speed. He had no idea how amazing it was to run like this. He felt like he was just fleeting about, nearly flying.

"Well that's how you do it!" Engineer yelled, and got up to clap at Scout, who was running fast, rather big circles. "This is amazing!" He yelled, and went even faster.

"I can't believe these legs work so well!" Scout yelled while he ran, and the Engineer laughed, and Scout was sure that he would pretty much anything again if he could hear the other's flabbergasted "They work" cheer over and over..

"So I guess that you do have to learn to walk before you can learn to run, after all!" Engineer yelled, and it was Scout's turn to laugh. "This is amazing, simply the best thing ever!" Scout boasted, and kept running for a while.

"Erm, how do I stop?" He yelled after a whole, when he realized that he should calm down before he hurt himself.

"What?" Engineer asked, and Scout kept going. "I don't know, just slow down?" Engineer suggested, and Scout tried, but his knees pend and he always had to take a new step to not fall straight on his face.

"Engineer?" Scout asked, worry in his voice. "Just lean back and slow down." Engineer said, and Scout tried, and miraculously, he was slowing down.

"Hey it works, I'm stopping!" Scout yelled, as he came towards Engineer, but he couldn't judge the distance it took him to stop, and he eventually collided with the other hard enough to knock them both over.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch" Scout complained, and tried to pick himself up, but realized that his legs were totally tangled with the Engineer's, and he couldn't just untangle them. "Sorry." Scout mumbled, and rolled to the side to let Engineer to do the untangling.

"It's okay, such happens." Engineer insisted, as he started to straighten their legs.

"Well look who are all tied up!" Sniper laughed, and came to loom over them both. "You two crack me up, you know that?" He said, and pulled Scout up when Engineer was done untangling them.

"How did you even manage it this time?" Sniper asked, and put Scout on his feet. "I can run!" Scout exclaimed, and took some steps forwards, proper steps. "And I can walk properly!" He added, and the Sniper nodded.

"I can see that." He said, and helped Engineer up as well. "Do you guys mind if I crash your dinner?" he asked, and Engineer shook his head. "Not at all."

Scout smiled. This was what it was like to have friends.

Everything seemed to normalize after that. Engineer had once again locked himself in his shed, not telling Scout anything about what he was so interested about. He himself had been busy training, and Sniper had been around to look over him. Scout had managed running, walking, and even some minor tricks, like jumping and somersault. Somersaults were funny to do, but they were kind of difficult, and even harmful at times. The metal was heavy and it sometimes dug on his stomach and chest if he wasn't careful. Sniper had even gotten Scout to full on kick him, after he had been annoying him long enough. Sniper had not minded at all, he seemed to be more interested about actually getting Scout to train on the kicks than feel sorry for bruising his angle.

In Scout opinion, the kicking was the most frustrating thing to train. Mostly so because when he kicked forwards, managing that, he ended up losing his balance because his supporting leg gave, and he ended up on his ass, with Sniper laughing so hard he couldn't get a breath in. Scout didn't feel sorry for him at all.

But with enough patience and actual intend to get back at the man, he managed to land some good kicks in, and he then realized the upside in to having legs made out of fucking metal. They were nearly an unstoppable force, didn't bruise or hurt himself, but dug in to his opponent like knife sunk in to butter.

"Kid, you are getting good with this." Sniper said, and he rubbed his arms to soothe the ache from a yellowish purple bruise there. "Thanks to you." Scout added, and sat flopped on the garden chair next to him. "It's entirely your fault for picking on me."

"I hear you keep saying that." Sniper said, and put some cold on the bruise. They both sat in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say. Scout had been working hard, and they had all been busy with their own thing.

"What is Engineer doing?" Scout frowned, and pulled his legs up to him so he could hug them against his chest. He had barely been able to see him at all during the days. He was lucky if he saw the man come to sleep at all.

"Not sure. I haven't seen him much either. He just yapped about some idea he had." Sniper shrugged his shoulders, and leaned back against the backrest, sighing loudly. "Do you seriously have to kick so hard?"

Scout grinned, and blew him a raspberry. "You totally deserved it."

They got back to training, but they hadn't gotten anything done yet when Engineer finally emerged from his hideout of a shed.

"Engineer!" Scout exclaimed with glee, and run to meet him up halfway, turning to walk besides him. "We thought you would say there for good this time!" He joked, and felt secretly grateful to be able to clap the man on the back. He had missed Engineer greatly.

"Humbug! I wouldn't dare leaving you guys alone, I'm too worried that you would destroy the whole place in my absence!" Scout pushed the man on the side with his elbow: "You are joking!"

Engineer grinned and pulled Scout in a sideways hug, almost making Scout topple over against him. Scout had to push himself up, and he swore that his cheeks were aflame. Engineer ruffled his hair immediately after that, and Scout almost wished that the man hadn't noticed his blush.

"Of Course I'm joking. I couldn't stand being away from you guys." Engineer looked at Scout for a while, and Scout thought that he saw something in the other's eyes through the thick goggles, but he wasn't quite sure what. Maybe it was affection? Engineer turned his look away, and went the campfire, nodding shyly at Sniper, and started to set up the fire.

"I'll make food. After that I have something to show you." Engineer said, and neither of them was sure who Engineer referred to, but they assumed that he meant both Sniper and Scout.

"I hardly even noticed how hungry I am!" Scout noted, and went to sit on the garden chair. He had been too busy training to feel hunger, but he sure was glad that engineer had come to make them food.

"Does that mean that you have your project finished?" Sniper asked, and helped Engineer with the fire by bringing him fresh firewood.

"Yeah. But we will have to see how it works." He nodded, and went to get some ingredients from the trailer.

"That's so cool! What is it?" Scout followed him around, but didn't get answer. "You'll have to wait and see." Scout huffed, and crossed his arms. "So not fair!" He complained, and Engineer just shook his head, and prepared the food. They were soon eating, and Scout was gobbling his food down to be ready faster. He wanted to know what was up.

Once they were finished and the dishes were dealt with Engineer took them to his shed. He went to fetch something inside, and Scout tried to reach higher to see what it was, but Sniper beat him to it.

"It's another pair pf prosthesis." Sniper said in confuse, and the watched Engineer bring them over.

"What's this?" Scout asked, and watched as Engineer held the prosthesis up so they could see. The new pair must be the weirdest pair of prosthesis Scout had ever seen.

The knee part was normal, but below it there was a huge sickle shaped part. The sickle was round, and the sharp end of the sickle curved forwards. It was completely flat circle, so that it wasn't meant to make any harm, he thought. The metal of the sickle was hard and it gave way a little when Engineer pulled it to show that it flexed.

"I have seen those somewhere." Sniper said out loud, and Scout looked at him. How come he knew something like this. "Some runner had those!" Sniper mumbled, and took the prosthesis on his own hands to examine.

"Scout, sit." He commanded suddenly, and Scout didn't react at all. "But it's dirt out here, can't we go back?" He tried, but Sniper glanced sourly his way. "Sit." He repeated, and gave the other prosthesis to Engineer. "If these work, they are just what we need. How do you get them on?" Scout looked at them both in confusion, those things didn't look like legs at all. They kind of reminded the hind legs of an animal, but that was probably the worst way to describe the prosthesis that he could come up with, but his mind drew a plank when he tried to come up with something better. He sat down on the ground, wanting to know what the others were seeing.

Engineer and Sniper busied themselves with his prosthesis, removing the previous leg, and replacing it with the blades.

Sniper picked him up to his feet as Engineer held his other pair of prosthesis close, making sure that they wouldn't get lost.

"There you go." Sniper said, and patted Scout on the back, and Scout almost fell straight on his face. It was so difficult to stay up with the blades. His balance was horrible. He was standing on top of the sickle blades, and he could wheel them bend when he tried jumping slightly.

"They area a lot lighter than the other ones." Scout mumbled, as he took a couple of careful steps forward. Trying not to wobble too much. "These are really hard to walk with."

"Then it's your luck that they are not meant for walking." Sniper laughed, as he watched Scout's desperate efforts to teeter about with his new prosthesis.

"They are specificity made for running only." He said, and bend backwards, and Scout could swear that the man was proud to even know about such a thing. Scout looked at Engineer to confirm, and the man was smiling fondly, and gave him a small nod. Scout's eyes widened, and his mouth split in to a grin. "Really? Like, proper running?" He asked, and he couldn't hold his joy.

"Yes." Both Engineer and Sniper said, but Engineer was the one to explain how they worked. "You will have to step with the edge of the blade, and it will bounce you up, making you run faster."

"Like springs?" Scout asked eagerly, being once again reminded by the springs of an old bed they used to tie on their legs when they were young.

"Yeah, kind of like springs." Engineer nodded fondly, and Scout jumped to hug him, totally miscalculating the amount of force he needed to jump that distance. Because of the blades he didn't need that much force behind his jump, and he was practically all over Engineer when he finally landed awkwardly in the biggest bear hug he had even given to anyone.

Scout blushed deeply, but refused to retaliate, and mumbled a "Thank you." Instead.

"You're welcome." Engineer put Scout back down, and Scout could swear he saw the other man blush as well!

"Go give them a try." Engineer took a hold of Scout's shoulders and turned him around before he could comment, and pushed Scout on his way.

Scout felt like turning around and saying something, but he didn't really know what to say, so instead he kept on going. "Yeah yeah." He said, and prepared for a sprint. The blades felt a little bit like hockey blades, the blades kept him off the ground, and he felt wobbly and uncertain, but once he got on the ice, namely, on the run, he could really understand why he was wearing such thing.

The blades really put a bounce on his step, and he could feel like he was flying. His steps were nearly half longer than they used to be, and he was faster. The wind was blowing in his ears, and and he truly felt like he had springs tied to his feet. This time it was not something that was just on his head, because this time it was completely real, not just some childhood fantasy.

He felt like a lighting, he could go so fast, so, so fast. He made a big lap around the fort just to feel the wind and adrenaline rush over him, and he was sweating like a tiny big when he returned back to the trailer. His lungs ached, and even if it was uncomfortable, Scout welcomed it. He had never felt better than he did then. The legs may be awkward to walk and to do normal things with, like walk the stair, but they were like made for Scouting. He was fast as the wind itself, and he jumped with his hands spread just to feel the freedom. He felt like a bird that had been released from his cage, and he could finally open his wings, and let the air flow against his feathers. With this, he felt like he could return to the Scouting one day.

He truly was the Scout 2.0 Sniper had been playfully calling him. The better, and improved version of Scout.

"This is amazing!" Scout yelled at Engineer, and he run couple of loops over him just to declare his point. "Look how fast I am! I'm the force of nature!" He yelled, and jumped so high, that he was sure that he made a new record on the long jump.

"I feel like a Scout again." He said with astonish when he finally managed to stop next to the Engineer, and he panted loudly, crashing against the man's side. Engineer took a hold of him, and pend him down to lay him down on a chair.

"Easy there, you shouldn't strain yourself." Engineer sounded worried, but also glad. Definitely happy, and proud.

"Engineer." Scout took a hold of the other's arm when he was retreating, and pulled him back. Scout looked Engineer straight in the eyes, and he felt the need to kiss the man, but held back. "Thank you." He said instead, and turned his head to the side, blushing. He couldn't believe that he felt like doing something reckless like that. The Sniper was watching. He didn't even know for sure if Engineer liked him like that.

"No problem." Engineer smiled, and Scout swore that he melted a little. The man's smile was so soft and sweet, like taffy. Scout liked taffy, and he thought about the other's lips, wishing that he could taste them.

"I have probably gotten a sunstroke." Scout babbled, feeling fleet. He really doubted that it was caused by the sunstroke.

"Well, let's get you inside then." Engineer said, and smiled. He knelt down to remove the blades, and Scout couched. He liked seeing Engineer kneeling in front of him, and he really wanted to see that more often, but he hoped that the man's hands would be higher up his leg then, preferably all the way to his groin. Even more, he would prefer it to not be the man's hands at all, but something quite else.

Scout coughed again, and turned his head to the side so fast he heard his neck snap.

"Yup. Going inside sounds pretty sweet to me!" He said, trying to come up with something completely different to think about, but he failed horribly.

"Well, I'll be off then." The Sniper had announced at one point, but Scout hadn't even noticed. He was far too busy digging his face in to Engineer's neck when the man lifted him up to carry him inside. Scout shamelessly inhaled the man's scent, and he connected that smell with all things Engineer.

"Are you tired?" Engineer asked, and Scout shook his head, even if he felt wasted, tired to the bone. He didn't want to go to bed yet.

"Well, I could take a nap. I haven't slept too well." Engineer said, and Scout nodded eagerly. "Yeah, we should, like, take a nap together!" He insisted, wanting to spent more time alongside the Engineer. "But I thought you said you weren't tired?" Scout shook his head from side to side. "I lied."

"You are just silly." Engineer laughed, and put Scout down on his bed, before he sat down on his own bed, taking off his clothing.

Scout felt like he had just swallowed a handful of ice, and tried to say something: "Could be, like, I dunno, share a bed?" Scout asked, trying not to stray from the point.

Engineer looked at him with a raised brow, obviously questioning Scout's logic, and Scout was already regretting asking. He wanted to be close to Engineer, but he didn't want the other to do so unwillingly. He was trying to come up with an excuse, but Engineer beat him to it. "Well, sure, I guess. Just wake me up if you start feeling bad after the sunstroke." The Engineer said, and and put off the rest of his clothing, and Scout was busy to tear himself free from all extra clothing, except his boxers. Sunstroke his ass.

The Engineer came close, and settled to lay next to him, and Scout cuddled shamelessly against his side, and threw his hand over the other's chest, smelling in the other's scent as he buried his head against the Engineer's chest. Scout sighed with content.

He felt like saying a million different things varying from "I love you" to simpler "I like you" and such along the same thought trail, but decided on the much more safer "Good night" Instead.

Engineer replied with kind, and Scout made sure to take in as much of the other as he could, enjoying his proximity. He tried to stay awake as long as he could, but that only got him so long before he fell in to content slumber, lulled in to sleep by Engineer's steady breathing.


	11. Chapter 11

On the morning Scout woke up next to the Engineer, and he blushed madly. He remembered yesterday bright and clear, and and he must had some kind of adrenaline based high, because he had been all over himself.

He still couldn't bring himself to regret it though. He turned on his side so that he was facing the Engineer, and he feigned sleep. He put his hand next to his side, even if it meant that he would have to brush it against Engineer's chest. Totally accidentally. He sighed, and went back to sleep eventually.

When he woke up the second time, the Engineer had gotten up and was at the kitchen. Scout could tell by the delicious smell that came from the other end of the trailer. Scout smiled when he thought about the delicious food first thing in the morning, and he started to put on some clothes. "Smells delicious there!" He yelled at Engineer on the other side of the trailer, and listened for Engineer's reply. "I'm making bacon and eggs."

Scout loved bacon.

"Awesome. Can I ask you a favor though?" He stretched and yawned, but tried to work himself fully awake.

"Sure." Engineer said, and came by so that Scout could see him. The man still held the spatula in his hands, and Scout was taken aback by what he saw. The man was not wearing his goggles or the hard hat like he always did, but he was natural, wearing jeans and a white cotton shirt with red checkers. The man looked good. He was relaxed and casual, and his eyes were a nice bright shape of brown that they were easily recognized from the background, even if the Trailer was bright with light.

The man should wear his regular clothes more often. On a side note, Scout should hide his overalls immediately.

"Um, yeah. I mean, could you get my legs?" Scout mumbled, and hard difficulties with getting his eyes off the man. He could keep checking him up for hours on end.

"Yeah, I'll be back in a sec." Engineer said, and disappeared, and Scout couldn't help how well the jeans fit the man's bum. The overalls didn't give the man any credit.

"I'm doomed." Scout mumbled, and raked his hands through his hair. He was done for, lusting for a man probably more than twice his age, but damn, he couldn't help it. He had had his share of crushes and even a small romance once, but no-one managed to stir him up like the Engineer did.

He didn't even bother thinking about his sexuality anymore, he was so over the board about Engineer that it was pretty clear where his interests were.

Engineer came back soon with the legs, and Scout accepted them with a smile, and a thank him. He started fastening them, and went to join Engineer in the kitchen.

He was really on the edge all the time he was close to the man, because he wanted to get comfy with him. He wanted to hug him, kiss him, and do questionable things, but oh so good things to the man. Scout casually laid his hand on Engineer's shoulder, and he noticed that he was actually a little bit taller than Engineer. He was sure that even if he would have his real legs, he would still be taller, so it wouldn't just the the prosthesis doing. He was already getting a pretty bad inferiority complex about being always below everyone, having to look up to everyone he talked to from his wheelchair, and having his neck ache after every day. He was pleased to note that he had gotten his height back. He could once again feel better about himself when he stood tall.

"How's the food cooking?" He asked, and smelled the food. Delicious as always.

"I got the last eggs on the pan, if you get the plates, we are all done here." Engineer said, and Scout grinned.

He reached over the Engineer, leaning against the man as he reached for the plates. He might not get all handsy on him, but he was damned if he couldn't play a tease. He would lay hints, and eventually Engineer would get it. Scout reached up higher, shamelessly rubbing against Engineer as he took them both glasses from the higher self, and he took them to the table.

He could see engineer lay a confused glance at him, but he could also see the blush on the man's cheeks, so none of his efforts had gone to waste. Scout felt himself daring. He went to get the utensils, and took Engineer by the hip to push him slightly aside, so he could get the drawer open. He let his fingers linger, but not too long so it wouldn't be too obvious, and he took the forks and knifes.

"All ready here." Scout said, and sat on his side of the table. He had claimed the seat right next to the door as his. Or actually, the place was given to him. Since it was the closest to the door, that was where he was always put down when he was carried in. He didn't mind. The sun always shone in from the window behind him, so at least it didn't hurt his eyes.

Engineer brought the food in, and put some eggs and bacon on his plate, taking the rest himself. He put aside the frying pan, and sat next to Scout, who had watched him during the whole time. Scout wiggled his brows at him, and stuffed his mouth full of eggs, humming with delight. They truly were cooked to the perfection. Engineer always knew exactly how he liked his eggs.

"Delicious." Scout mumbled with his mouth full, enjoying every bite.

They ate the food while Scout tried to come up with all kinds of things to talk about, trying to fill the kitchen with chatter.

"Would you like to go on a walk with me, I have gotten the gist of this walking thing so well." Scout boasted, and Engineer agreed. "Yeah, sure, put let me grab my goggles first." Engineer smiled and went to get his goggles. Scout really felt like throwing those things in the trash. Engineer had nice eyes.

"Yeah, I'll crab my cap." Scout put on his cap, and made sure that his eyes were protected from the sun properly. It was always so bright outside.

"Okay, let's go." Scout went out first, and waited for Engineer to come along. He saw his ball on the ground, and he picked it up. He felt like playing some ball, actually, he felt like practicing his hits.

"Hey Engineer, can we go by the supply? They always have bats there, I would like to play some ball." Scout said, and Engineer shrugged. "Sure." He said, and closed the door. Scout walked so close to him the whole way he might as well have been glued against Engineer's side.

"This feels exactly like my old bat." Scout noted, and did a couple of warm up swings. "I guess it must be the same provider then." Engineer assumed, and closed the supply behind him, and the Scout and him went to the back of the fort to train some batting. Behind the fort they had the biggest clear area to train in, so they wouldn't have to worry about breaking anything. It was practically desert out there.

Scout was telling Engineer about a great event that happened a few ears back, about him and his older brother winning the game with a tight score. He told how he had managed to make the most epic swing ever, while his brother had been flirting with the cute girl with strong arms in the other team, thus distracting her from running after the ball. She was a good sport though, and came in to the family Christmas dinners when invited, and actually got up with his brother some time later.

During this speech Scout had managed to sneak his hand on Engineer's shoulder.

"Well what are you queers doing here?" Scout whipped his head around to see the RED Scout sneer at him, and Scout growled instinctively. "What is it up to you, you fuck face," He cussed and flipped him the bird. "Well, I should have expected the Engineer to build you some nice toys." The RED Scout said, obviously not giving a damn about Scout's attitude.

"Well, yeah. I could take you on anytime!" He yelled, and Engineer tried to pull him back to calm down, but Scout shrugged his arm off.

"Yeah?!" The RED Scout inquired, and Scout yelled a confirming "Yeah!" At him.

"Bring it! Here and now, no guns!" He yelled, and the other Scout waved his bat so it was resting on his shoulders. "You make it too easy!" He teased, and lazily walked forwards.

"Well, I will prove you wrong!" Scout yelled, and prepared his bat. "Scout, don't." The engineer tried, sounding really worried. "It's okay, I can take him."

"No you can't! He is better, he has killed Scout's twice your size!" Engineer tried, but Scout laughed.

"A Scout twice my size would be a super fat Scout! I'll be fine!" Scout tried to shoo Engineer off, but the man was worried.

"Finished talking to your boyfriend yet?" RED Scout yawned, and prepared his bat as well.

"What does it matter to you who I talk to!" Scout yelled, and looked at Engineer.

"Go get the Sniper, or the medic, or get them both, whatever, just go." Scout mumbled, hoping that the man would take his word. Having him here now would be too big of a distraction, and he would get himself killed by his carelessness.

Engineer hesitated, but when The RED Scout started to approach Scout to attack, and the Scout did likewise, Engineer decided to do just that. The man was probably the lowest runner right after Heavy, but Scout knew that he could trust him with his life.

He charged the RED Scout.

At least they had a big area to fight at, with nothing to come between them, but they didn't have any hiding places, or tactically placed objects so they could at least have the home advantage caused by the terrain. It was just plain, even, clear desert for as long as one could see.

Scout braced himself to hit, ready smash the RED Scout's head in, but he was taken aback by how fast the other was. He didn't blow in hits that bruised your whole side, but he did quick, precise stab like hits that made Scout's ribs ache.

He tried to protect himself, and get a good punch in, but he couldn't get enough force behind it before there was yet again a hit on his ribs.

Scout tried to get some distance between them. He was running around like a rabbit being chased by a wolf. He made quick jumps to get away from the other's path, and he tried to evade all the hits that came his way. He had seriously misjudged his opponent, because the RED Scout was probably the fastest man he had seen to date.

The RED Scout prepared for a punch, and Scout knew it was coming, and he started to avoid it, but he was too slow and too close, he cot the hit on his side, and he was sure that he broke a rib. The pain was so bad, it made him flinch. He knew the RED Scout's tactic now, he would lay quick but weak punches, to soften up the target, and he would then hit full on, breaking bone immediately. Scout was losing. He fell on his back thanks to the force of the hit, and he rolled around, only to see the RED Scout holding the bat above his head like some Texas chainsaw murderer held his weapon, but he had no time to take in all the detail. Scout lifted up his leg, and managed to block the hit with it. It made his leg shake and tingle, but it didn't hurt at all. It made a loud clang as it hit, but that was it.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Scout yelled, and he kicked the RED Scout off, making the other grunt as his metallic leg sunk in to his stomach, throwing him back.

And then Scout realized what his tactic was.

Scout tried to Stomp the RED bastard, but the other was too quick, and rolled away from him. Scout tried madly to kick him, or at least get him to stay away from reach, but he couldn't land any good ones.

Scout decided that his best chance was to try and steal the RED Scout's bat away from him. The man was fast and strong, but if he couldn't reach he was done for.

Scout charged, and even If the RED Scout was trying to swing his bat at him, Scout managed to tackle him down like in American football. The RED Scout grunted as he was showed in to the ground so hard Scout could hear his breath wheeze. Scout jammed his metallic knee on the RED Scout's face, and he fought the bat off the other's arm, now fielding two of them himself. He didn't have time to boast about it because the RED Scout swung them both around, Scout almost dropped the both bats as the RED Scout wrapped both his hands around Scout's throat, throttling him. Scout gagged, but swung both his bats, hitting them to both sides of the RED Scout's ugly head.

It was enough for the Red Scout to loosen his hold, so Scout could push him off. He then performed somersault backwards, and got back to his legs from the ground, even though with a little teeter.

"You are worse than I though." The RED Scout mumbled, and Scout was surprised how unhurt he looked. He had been thrown around and hit, but the man just looked a little ruffled that's all. Scout himself was sagging to the side, favoring his right side over the left where he knew was a cracked rib.

"The Feeling's mutual." Scout hissed, and he tried to even his breath. He was panting.

The RED Scout ran at him, and Scout swung the Bats, but the RED Scout managed to knock them both away from him, they were thrown pretty far, away from either of their reach.

Scout drew his hand Around the RED Scout's neck, and he threw himself backwards, taking the RED Scout with him. He rolled them around in the air, and he landed on top of the RED Scout, making sure to cram his elbow on the other's back. This was hopeless, it would take forever to kill a guy by hands only.

The RED Scout twisted himself around, and hit Scout square on the jaw, making Scout fall back, but when the RED Scout was coming for another attack, Scout managed to land a kick on his jaw.

When the RED Scout was falling back, Scout took the change to swing himself back to hit feet, managing to land another kick on the RED Scout's chest as he swung, kicking him backwards. The RED Scout was laying on his back at the Ground, and Scout ran towards him, and jumped at him, landing on his knees on the RED Scout's chest, and Scout wanted to believe that he actually heard a crack from the other's ribs.

The RED Scout growled as he hit Scout on cheek, and rolled them around once again. Scout managed to free his hand from under him, and he hit the RED Scout right back, before taking a hold of the other's throat.

The RED Scout held his arm, trying to tear it off his throat. The RED Scout put his hand on Scout's throat again, with murder intend tinting his eyes. Scout thought that this would evolve in to a fight between who can hold his breath longer, but he was now willing to use any means possible. His legs were totally pinned under the RED Scout, but he still had one hand free, so he dug his fore -and mid finger in to RED Scout's solar plexus, making the other flex and jolt up, presenting Scout with an opportunity to stand, but he didn't have time to, because the RED Scout managed to recoil and tackle him down already.

"You are such an asshole." The RED Scout cussed, and took hold of Scout's throat with both hands this time, squeezing so hard Scout thought that his eyes are going to pop.

"Scout tried to fight the hands off but with no effort, the RED Scout was just too strong. He tried to think about anything, and he could hear the blood rushing in his ears.

Scout had an idea. He let go of the RED Scout's hands, and he felt the grip tighten around his throat, but he had a plan. He spread his hands, and slammed them palm open against the RED Scout's ears, shattering his eardrums.

The red Scout immediately let him go and grasped his ears, and Scout coughed as he swaggered up. His throat hurt, and he was sure hat he would have a very ugly bruise there.

The RED Scour was wobbling on his feet, and Scout hissed. The man deserved it, deserved to have his world wobble and balance fail him.

Scout walked to him, trying to hold himself together, and he kicked forwards, aiming for the RED Scout's legs. He was way too fast to be dealt with. The RED Scout fell on his knees, but Scout wasn't sure if the kick worked. The RED Scout seemed to somehow muster more strength from somewhere withing, and like a berserk man he hit Scout on the groin with all the strength he could muster in a single hit. Scout immediately fell on the ground, cradling his family jewels.

"You son of a bitch, that's dirty!" He hissed, but he was pretty sure that the RED Scout couldn't hear him.

He Couldn't even move from the pain before the RED Scout was already on him, bashing his head in, making Scout dizzy. He was spitting blood, and he felt a farm trail going down the side of his eye. The RED Scout had a hold from his throath, and he kept slamming Scout's head on the ground time after time, making Scout swallow the dirt that raised in the air by the force the back of his head was pummeled in to the ground.

Scout tried to get a hold of himself, and he forced his eyes open to see the mad man, and he raised his arms to strike.

Scout dug his fingers between the RED Scout's ribs, but even that didn't make the man let go, Scout tried to claw him off him, but this time the man was simply unmovable.

"Just fucking die!" Scout yelled as he hit his fist on the RED Scout's throat, trying to crash the windpipe.

The RED Scout went off him, but Scout was too tired to move. He saw everything in double, and he was probably full of bruises everywhere. He kept wheezing for breath, but with how badly his head was swinging, he hardly could feel secure. He had gotten so many hits already, he thought that there were more than just that one rib broken.

The RED Scout crawled on top of him, he was moving slowly, obviously hurting as well.

He started talking, and his voice was raspy, unclear, and it sounded like a hiss. The man's throat obviously didn't allow the man to speak properly anymore.

"You fucking son of a bitch just can't get off my land can you!" The RED Scout was yelling really loud in to Scout's ear, and Scout understood that he had lost his hearing momentarily, thanks to the shattered ears. There would not be a reason to yell so loud otherwise. "You should know by now, that I'm stronger, I have never lost a fight!" He yelled, and Scout cringed. The man took a hold of his collar, and pulled Scout up, and Scout felt something very hard against his chest. He peered down from the corner of his eye, and he knew exactly what it was, because he had held a similar object nearly every day. It was the shatter gun.

"I don't fight fair!" The RED Scout said, and he knew that this was his last change to do something. He threw the Red Scout off him with the strength he could muster. He curled his legs up and he kicked them together with as much strength that he could muster, causing the other to fall backwards thumbing. He managed to kick the other in the middle of his chest. When the RED Scout toppled over he let go of Scout's collar. Scout heard a gunshot pierce the air, but since there was no pain, he bet that it didn't hit him. A misfire.

Scout panted loud, and there was blood and adrenaline rushing through his veins, making Scout hyper aware. He felt like everything that happened beyond this point onwards was on speed wind.

He tried to hit the man the best he could, he unsuccessfully tried to get the gun off him, but nothing worked.

The RED Scout threw him off from him, and Scout hit the ground so hard he thought that his tailbone cracked. He saw the RED Scout aim the gun at him, and he didn't hesitate. Scout tried to jump up and kick him, but the other already fired. The loud ring of gunfire echoed in the air again, and Scout could feel dispersion sunk in his skin, and he growled in pain. He felt the sting and hurt, but he was still alive. The pain was horrible, but he was alive.

Scout tried to fight his eyes open, but the pain had crammed them shut. Scout heard a loud thud not more than a meter from him, and finally managed to open his eyes. He coughed up blood, and the sight of the blood horrified him. It was everywhere, on the ground, on him, on the other Scout who was laying on the Ground. Scout stared at him in shock, and he could see the other's eyes open, staring at the sky with victory in his eyes, grinning. Scout saw the blood trailing from his ears, and from the side of his mouth. He saw the big gaping hole in his chest, and it was oozing warm, deep red blood. Scout stared at him in shock, and he tried to understand what had just happened. He looked at himself again, and he saw that he was covered blood. His clothes were torn, and there was blood oozing from so many tiny wounds, and he was dead tired. He looked at his legs, and saw the huge ass dent on his prosthesis. The bullet had rebounded. That meant that he had to have been fast enough to get his foot up in a kick, and by some fortune, the round metallic part under the knee had been just on the way of the bullet. The fucking thing had saved his life. He had to lose his fucking legs to survive in the future? Scout laughed like a maniac, totally not dealing well with shock. He laughed, and he felt like he was choking on the blood that pooled in his mouth. He coughed, and he felt his lungs ache. He couldn't get a breath in, he was so tired, he started feeling faint, and his vision blurred and darkened. He didn't have the energy to stay up anymore, so he started to sway as he held himself up with his arms. He could see something in the distance, something red. He could see a tiny blotch of yellow gleam in the distance, but he couldn't make out what it was. His arms gave out, and he fainted. He didn't even feel the fall as his torso hit the ground, and after that it was simply nothingness. Nothingness that tasted like blood, and smelled like gunfire.


	12. Chapter 12

The Engineer ran to the scene. He had gotten both Sniper and the Medic. Sniper had taken his riffle, if nothing, he could do the final shot if nothing else. The medic had taken his medigun, and he was obviously reluctant to come, but Sniper had managed to persuade him.

Engineer had just taken his hardhat in the hurry, not knowing how he could be of any use on the field.

They were running to the backyard of the 2fort, and in the distance Engineer could see two fighting men. He had no idea which one was which, or who was winning. From this far he couldn't see anything.

"I can't get a hit from this far!" The Sniper yelled as he run ahead of them. He had the longest legs of the all, and he was second only to Scouts when it came to running. Sniper didn't have good stamina for running though.

"Can you see them!" Engineer yelled, and tried to catch up with the Sniper, but he really wasn't made for this whole running thing.

"No, the scope is too unstable!" Sniper yelled back, and they run forward, Sniper looking forward with his scope every now and then.

Suddenly, there was a loud shot in the air that traveled the air like thunder. The thread filled Engineer. He had not expected any gun fire. He saw someone fall on the ground, and he had no idea who it was who had fallen. He really hoped that it wasn't the Scout.

He tried to look for the survivor, but realized that they had both fallen. Maybe they both had died, he didn't want that, he couldn't handle that.

"They are both down" Sniper said, looking through his scope. Engineer knew that, he didn't want to answer anyways.

They ran to the bodies, and they saw the mess. Medic immediately went for the pulse, first for the RED Scout. "None. His dead." He said, and went to the other Scout.

"His dying. His heart is barely pumping blood, I'm surprised there is something left to pump." He snickered, but no-one else joined his mirth. The medic pointed at the Scouts and then to the Engineer and Sniper. "Take the bodies. We need to take them in."

"What, can't you heal him now?" Engineer said, sounding really worried. They didn't have time to be carrying them around.

"I can't seal the wounds when there is particles left within. I need to dig them out. Scout will just have to survive until then." He said, and Engineer went to take the Scout in his arms, as Sniper went to throw the body of the RED Scout over his shoulder.

"I will dispose of this and inform the Soldier." The Sniper said, and walked off. Engineer ran after the Medic, hoping that Scout could survive. He was strong, a true fighter. He had gone through so much, he couldn't die now.

He wouldn't allow him to.

Medic didn't allow him to visit. Engineer sat on the hallway for the whole time, waiting for Scout to wake up. He was nervous, fiddling with his arms, walking around the hallway, hoping that whatever god was out there would not take Scout from him.

He waited for days, not leaving the corridor even to sleep. He slept on the chair, and he only ate when Sniper brought him some of the community food, meant for all of them in the fort.

Scout woke up at some point. He had no idea what time or day it was, but at least he was awake finally. His neck was killing him, and the bed was super uncomfortable. He noticed that he had bandages all over his body, and that pretty much everything ached. His eyes were sore thanks to the light that shun on his eyes from the window. What little he could see from the blinding light was that he was in a room, which was probably the Medic's surgery. He was too tired to get up properly to take a better look, so he just chose to go back to sleep for now. He might feel better after he woke up again.

He awoke some time later, and this time the Medic was also in the room. He was feeling only slightly better than the last time he woke up, but not enough to feel glad about it. He took a glance at Medic, who seemed to be writing something down, but not for too long. He already was filling up a syringe with something in it, and he was coming closer, not paying attention to Scout when he was clicked his fingers against the syringe to see the liquid.

The Medic came to him, and picked up his left hand, about to inject.

"What that?" Scout asked, and his voice was sore, and he was too drowsy to pay any mind in his grammar. Speaking fucking hurt, he was glad to be talkative. Medic looked up at him with his brows raised, obviously not expecting Scout to be awake.

"Well, looks like you wont be needing that shot after all." He said, and seemed to end his sentence midway, like he was about to add something. The Medic shrugged, and threw the needle in the trash. Scout didn't even mind to ask what was in the syringe, but knowing the Medic, it was probably euthanasia.

"I feel shit." Scout hissed, and his voice broke at the end, but Medic didn't seem to care. He didn't pay any attention to him, and just walked out of the room, leaving Scout by himself.

Scout closed his eyes in frustration, trying to relax, but couldn't, because soon there was someone holding his arm again. If it was another shot, Scout would tell the Medic off.

He opened his eyes to see the Engineer by his side, holding his arm.

"You are awake." Engineer noted, and Scout rolled his eyes. No shit.

"I missed you." Engineer noted, and and shook Scout's hand slightly. Scout felt sorry for not being there for Engineer, but there was nothing he could do about that. He had been unconscious. And right now he was too tired to say a thing.

"M' sorry." He mumbled, but Engineer smiled and shook his head. "Don't be." Engineer lifted Scout's arm up, and he rubbed Scout's back of hand against his chin. Scout noted that the man had a noticeable stub. The man's beard was rubbing sharply against his hand.

"How long?" He asked, meaning how long Engineer waited him, but Engineer understood it as how long he had been gone for. Well, it probably was the same thing.

"Two days." Engineer said, and looked genuinely happy that Scout was finally awake. Scout could give away his arms as well if he could see the man smile like that at him for all his eternity.

Scout smiled goofy back at him, and turned his gaze to the ceiling, feeling tired all of a sudden.

"You got that RED Scout. I have no idea how you did that. I was so worried." Engineer mumbled, and Scout nodded slightly. Nodding hurt.

"The Soldier wants to talk to you." Engineer whispered, and Scout scoffed. The man was crazy, he didn't want to meet him. He would probably yell at him for offing his team members, and he would chase him off or kill him. He was not eager to have that conversation.

Scout sighed loudly, making Engineer shake his head.

"I talked with him. I think he wants to test you." Engineer said, and Scout sighed even louder. This was not going to end well. The man was probably making him work his ass off.

"When... home?" Scout rasped, and Engineer raised a brow at him, and Scout realized that for the first time ever he had called that trailer a home. He didn't mind the slip up per se.

"Trailer." he defined, and Engineer smiled. Scout was glad to notice that he didn't mind Scout calling the Trailer home either.

"I don't know." Engineer said, and went to brush some hair off Scout's eyes when he noted that Scout had been blowing air to his hair, trying to achieve the same without moving his arms.

"I guess the Medic will tell me eventually." Engineer said, and Scout nodded. He was tired, and getting drowsy. He wanted to stay up and talk to engineer, but he was so darn wasted. He had only been awake for several minutes, but he felt like he had been awake for days on end.

Engineer noticed that Scout was getting drowsy, so he got a chair, and sat on the chair as he rested his torso on Scout's bed. He had a hand drawn over Scout's chest. Scout managed to utter one more detail. He had no idea why he wanted to say that exactly, but it felt important. "Leg saved my life." And as if it was a mutual agreement, they both fell asleep.

Scout spent several more days in the hospital. He was allowed to leave when he was finally feeling better, and strong enough to walk out on his own. He was assigned medication, that Engineer made sure to make him take it.

Scout didn't complain, because all the attention he kept getting made him more happy than what he had been in a long time. Engineer's presence cheered him up, and he was currently having a lot of that.

It was a couple of days later when Scout was finally allowed to leave. He felt wobbly with his prosthesis, because his legs felt weak even after all that rest. The wounds hurt when he moved, but Medic had confirmed that the wounds would be fine if he didn't do any excess exorcises.

Scout was already at the door that led out of the surgery, but he was taken aback by who stood at the other side of the door.

The Soldier was there, with his helmet covering his eyes, and dressed formally in his uniform, that was too straight to be natural. The man had probably ironed it before coming over.

"I see you are in heath, recruit!" Soldier yelled, and Scout cringed. He had not gotten used to so loud noises after the silence in the surgery.

"In my office, both of you maggots!" Engineer pointed at Scout and the Engineer, and whirled around on his stand, and started walking away, and Scout paid a worried look at Engineer, who only shrugged, and shoved his hands at Scout, telling him to move.

Scout frowned, but followed the Soldier.

The Soldier's office was a really big room. He had probably gotten the first pick, and he had decided to turn it in to his head guarder. The driving table had been pushed in the middle of the room so that he could sit facing the door.

Scout frowned, but knew wiser than to comment.

Scout stood next to the table, not moving a muscle. He knew that Soldier was a wacko deep within, and he didn't want to make the man go bat shit on him. Not on the very first time of his release.

"I see you have made maggot food out of our Scout!" Engineer yelled, and Scout wondered if yelling was Soldier's normal way of talking. The man was obnoxiously loud. He had heard the same phrase being used to describe him, but the Soldier took it in to a whole new level.

Scout only nodded, not wanting to say the words out loud. The Soldier would probably skin him alive for that.

"I would feet you to the maggots myself, but I have been told that if you have been able to beat our Scout, then you must be one hell of an asset!" Scout gawked at the Soldier, not believing his ears.'

"I have no idea what the Engineer has been doing to you, but he must have done hell of a good work! Great job for rookie training!" Soldier turned to Engineer and nodded so deep that his helmet swung on his head.

It was a wonder that the hat did not fly off his head.

"But I wont allow you maggots in my team just like that! I will never be recruiting any BLU scum on my regiment, and I will not get any weaklings, remember that, maggot!" He yelled, and reached over his table to poke Scout painfully on the chest, making his wounds scream in pain, but Scout bit down on his lip.

"I expect you in training on every morning! Starting at 0600 every Monday!" Soldier yelled, and excused them. Scout had a bewildered look on his face. He spoke only after they had closed the Soldier's door behind them. "What just happened?" He asked, deadpanning.

Engineer turned at him, sounding excited. "He is considering you for the new Scout! His going to test you!" Engineer said, and Scout could see he was excited.

"I can stay." Scout deadpanned, still not getting the whole situation.

"Yes, you can stay." Engineer confirmed, and Scout had to say that too, just for it to sink in.

"I can stay. I can be here for good. This is AWESOME!" He yelled, and jumped in the air, pumping his fist, but winced immediately, grasping his chest. "Ouch, ouch, ouch, hurts!" He said, and slouched a bit as Engineer laughed. He made sure to walk Scout all the way to the Trailer.

"I heard you are being recruited!" Sniper yelled as he welcomed himself in, and straight to their dinner table. "Good job!" He congratulated, and shook Scout's hand hardly, making Scout shake along the handshake.

"Thank you so much for what you did. Everyone's talking about it." Sniper said, and pulled Scout in a deep hug, and Scout tried to squirm out of it. Sniper obviously wasn't paying attention to his many wounds.

"Really, thank you, for everything. For setting peace in to his soul." Sniper mumbled, and Scout stopped with his struggling for a moment, recognizing the obvious moment they were having. It was silent for a while, until Engineer stopped them, and Sniper released him finally from his smothering hug.

"Please, let Scout eat. His still in pain." Engineer worried, sounding like a mother hen, but Scout couldn't resist a smile. He wouldn't mind Engineer coddling him, he could coddle him all he wanted.

"Let's dig in then!" Sniper announced, and took a bowl for himself, and they all ate together. Scout was happy. He was with his family, and he really did feel at home this time.

Engineer and Scout had started spending far more time lately. The Soldier had allowed Scout to travel about the fort, and he was finally allowed to get inside the fort. Engineer had felt obliged to show him around.

They had also started doing more things together, like Scout had started to learn how to cook with Engineer's aid. They also did the regular walks and talks, but they now tried to find even more things to do together. Engineer always accepted the invite to play ball, and Scout was happy to spent time with him.

"I can't believe how well you handle the prosthesis now." Engineer commented, and Scout nodded. He had gotten really good. "You are faster and better, and alive, that's a good point." Engineer noted, and Scout laughed. "Yeah. I'm glad you didn't fix the dent in the metal. It reminds me of my struggle and victory. It's like a medal or someshit." Scout commented, and Engineer smiled.

"You have just done so recognizable improvement." Engineer mumbled, and the words seemed to fade to the end, as if the man had gotten some kind of idea in the middle of the sentence.

"For you the prosthesis seems to be an improvement, really. It doesn't even hurt anymore?" Engineer asked, and Scout shook his head. "Nah, the pain has faded. Or been overrun by the battle wounds, whichever."

Engineer nodded, and they continued to play ball, even if Scout noticed that the Engineer seemed a little bit distanced.

The morning were pretty much agony on Scout. He had to wake up on ungodly hour, and drag his tired ass to Soldier's camp. Camp which was mostly self declared area for his war crazy idealism.

The training was exhausting exercise, and weirder than life tests to see where his loyalties laid. The training was usually paused around noon, when Scout was allowed to eat. After that they continued for two more hours, before it was finally over for the day. Scout hated it immensely, but he was adamant to prove himself.

When he returned to the Engineer, he usually found the man at his shed. Engineer had started a new project that he worked on when Scout was at the training. He always put down his work when Scout came to ask him out.

They would go walking, and enjoy their time. Scout had been feeling daring lately, trying to manage the courage withing him to tell engineer how he felt, ask him out or something, but he always chickened out.

"Hey Engineer, I was wondering, if you might want to..." Engineer turned around to look at him, and he smiled. Scout felt all soft and cuddly inside, and suddenly he forgot what he was about to say. Ask him out on the weekend? Tell him he liked him? Scout pulled the first thing he thought #If you might want to go out to the town in the weekend?" Scout mumbled, and Engineer raised his brow. "Why, do you need something?" Scout cussed under his breath, and was quick to clarify "No, I meant with me, Would you like to go there with me." Scout stuttered, and he was worried about what Engineer might answer.

"Sure, I need to go to the hardware store anyways." Scout sighed. Shopping, of course. He always hated shopping, but Engineer didn't seem to expect a date or anything. Besides, Scout had no idea where to take him.

"Yeah, that sounds great." He mumbled, and looked down to his feet, trying to come up with something to add. "Would you like to go eat somewhere? Eat out, I dunno. If you don't feel like cooking everyday." Scout tried to mumble, and Engineer laughed.

"Sure. There is one great restaurant out there, makes great homemade food. Also, Marine is an awesome cook." Engineer smiled, and Scout frowned a little, but Engineer didn't notice.

"Who's Marine?"

Engineer smiled, and looked a little fond. Seeing him smile that smile to someone else who wasn't Scout made the butterflies in Scout's stomach go on a crash course, flying madly, and making Scout's stomach upset. He was jealous.

"She's the owner of the place. I sometimes try to ask if she could swap recipes, but she insists that they are not for trade. She's a sweet lady."

And she was a woman too. How could Scout compete? He really didn't know if Engineer saw him like that. The man was good with everyone.

"Well, the weekend it is." Scout confirmed, and even if he was a little bit hesitant about the whole thing, he was still excited.

Engineer kept working in the shed when Scout trained, and the evenings they spent together, talking, and musing. The weekend came by, and Scout made sure to put on a fresh pair of clothes, even if he had only that little selection to choose from. He put on jeans and the red shirt. He had heard Engineer commenting how RED suited him, and he had finally learned to feel grateful to be able to wear the color.

They left together to the city with a shabby van that looked like it hadn't been checked up as often as it should have.

Scout didn't mind though, he was glad for his well deserved day off. A day off with Engineer that is.

The town was small. It had a couple of stores here and there, a food store, a bar, a couple of restaurants, a few cloth shops, and a general hardware store. There were also some homes here and there, and children running on the streets. It was kind of homey small town, with people all around.

Their first stop was at the hardware store, where Scout basically just kept walking behind Engineer, looking bored, and waiting for him to be done. He really had no idea what most of the parts Engineer got were supposed to do.

When they were at the register, the salesman seemed to recognize the Engineer. "Hey, again, looking for some supplements again I see." The man smiled at Engineer from behind the counter, and Engineer nodded back at him.

"Works tends to be like that." The sales person laughed, and shook his head. Scout thought that the salesperson had a smile too big to suit his face.

"Sometimes I wonder what you do for work. You seem to buy so much parts that really do not seem to fit in any specific work environment. But on the other hand, If I could spent time tinkering who knows what, then I wouldn't be here on the register. Would make me happier though." the cashier ringed the items up, and paid a glance at Scout. He seemed to consider him as the next customer, but since he wasn't buying anything and was just waiting behind Engineer, he assumed that he was company.

"Who's the new kid though? Your nephew, or a trainee?" Scout huffed as he was thought to be some kind of random kid. What was he to do for his young age.

"Nah, he's a friend. I'm showing him around the town." Engineer said, and started to bag the supplies in a plastic bag.

"Great, I'm glad to see you got a friend, you seem so lonely all the time, just coming over to get some spare parts." The man said, and picked something from a shelf behind him.

"Here, it's on the house. You are such a common customer, I think that you could have some use for this. Besides, I think that the boy need's some greasing." He said, and winked at Scout, making Scout blush beet red. He sputtered, not sure if it was a perverted joke or what.

Engineer laughed loudly, and Scout got distracted by his deep voice.

"Oh, you noticed? I made them myself, I guess I kind of forgot. Not that the squeaking was a give away." Engineer kept laughing, and Scout realized that they had been talking about his prosthesis. He hadn't even noticed the squeaking. He pend his knees some, and he could clearly hear the squeak the ball joint made as it moved.

"Well, we'll be out to see Marine, I crave for some of her delicious pork roast. Thanks for this Josh." Engineer said, and waved the bottle of grease at him, and Josh waved them off.

"Josh is a great lad, Always happy to serve." Engineer said, and Threw the bag of supplies on the back of the pickup, before climbing on the driver's seat. "His a little bit too curious for his own sake, but still a great lad." Engineer said, and started the engine, while Scout nodded, and looked at his legs.

"Does the squeak bother you?" Engineer asked, and Scout shook his head, he could wait for Engineer to fix the prosthesis when they were home.

"Nah, I'm great, let's go to eat." Scout said, and looked at his prosthesis. He had gotten so used to them, and people at the Fort had also taken them for granted. Now he kind of felt like he was being stared by everyone, because obviously the people in this town had never seen such a young kid who had lost both his legs.

Engineer drove them not too far. The town was small, so the diner was actually only a couple of blocks away. They got in to the diner, and Scout noted that it was quite crowded. It was a small diner with only a couple of tables, but the tables there were almost all taken. Only one table was free, it was against a wall, surrounded by other tables. They sat down, and Scout winced as his prosthesis made a sharp creak.

They didn't have much time to wait before there was already someone bringing them the menus.

"Good day, Marina." Engineer greeted, and Scout raised his brow at the sight of her. He had not quite expected her to look like that. He expect a sleek girl with petite hands, and a knack for baking. A girl with a blue dress like his mother's, and a sweet smile.

Well, at least he had been right on the smile part. The girl had bright blue eyes, and brown hair that was on a bun behind her. Some of the hair framed her sweet round face, and she wore a nice white dress with blue polka dots on it. She was totally a plus girl, round and plump with big set of breasts.

She truly had the sweetest personality, Scout was quick to learn.

"Hello again. What would you like today?" She picked up a pencil, and only then seemed to notice that Engineer had company with him. "Oh, is this the kid I keep hearing about? He's so sweet." She said, and smiled at Scout. Scout was glad that she didn't reach over to pinch his cheek or anything, he was glad with the fond smile he got.

"Yeah, his Scout." Scout tried to wave his hand at her politely with a smile of his own, and not just swung it about and knock over the salt shaker.

"Nice to meet you." Scout said, and and Marine insisted to shake hands. "His so polite, makes me so jealous for not having any kids of my own. The mister right seems to be hiding from me somewhere outside this town." Marine said absentmindedly, and laughed after the sentence. Scout kind of felt relieved that she hadn't set her eyes on Engineer. She was simply too sweet to be considered as a threat.

Engineer laughed at her, and Scout noted that he and Marine were friends of some sort. "Well, maybe if you took time to look around, you would notice that nearly half of the regulars are here for your smile." Marine blushed and swung her arm dismissively. "Oh you, stop with the sweet talk, you make me blush." She smiled, and took a quick glance around, as if trying to see if Engineers words had any truth behind them. Scout thought that the girl would have many men over her, but she seemed to be too friendly for her own sake.

"So what would you like again?" Marine, asked, and Scout was reminded that he hadn't even opened the menu yet.

"I'll have the pork roast." Engineer stated, and Marine wrote it down. "You always have the pork roast, darling." She said, and looked at Scout. Scout really had no idea about what he wanted, so he just ordered the same. Engineer excused himself to go wash his hands, since he had managed to smudge some grease in to his hands at the hardware store earlier. Marine took the orders to the kitchen, but soon returned to speak with the Scout alone.

"When I said I hear a lot of you from the Engineer, I meant it." She said, and sat where the Engineer had been only a while ago. Scout nodded, not sure about how to reply.

"From what I can tell, he seems to have gotten quite a good friend. I have known him for ears, comes to eat here nearly every weekend, but he has not been by so often during the last weeks. He seems to have been busy with you." She smiled, and and swept the table, even if Scout could swear that it was clean before.

"His done so much for me." Scout said, and tried to will away the uncomfortable feeling he got on his stomach. This was like having a conversation with Engineer's mom, even if she was just a friend.

"Trust me, I know. He can barely shut up about you. Makes me a little curious about who can be so charming to be able to tie that man down." She joked, and Scout blushed. From what he was let to understand, it seemed that Engineer was crushing back at him.

"So, are you saying that he likes me?" Scout said, sounding hopeful, and he knew that Marine could see that in his eyes. His brothers had always said that he was like an open book when it came to showing emotions.

"I would be lying if I said he was not head over heels for you!" Marine laughed, but got serious pretty quick after that. "But I want to remind you, He has a weird way of showing it. He wouldn't say the words out loud even if it killed him, his more of the handy kind of man. He tries to show it with his actions, so if you want him to say something, you need to be the one to break the ice, before he does something very stupid to win you over." She said, and looked so serious, that Scout had to take her words in to consideration.

"Stupid, like what?" Scout asked, but Marine noticed that Engineer was returning from the bathroom. "Oh, it looks like his back, enjoy your food." She said, and disappeared in to the kitchen, leaving Scout alone with the Engineer.

"Why was she up here?" Engineer asked as he sat down. "Did she forgot to ask the drinks? Al thought, I think that she knows my order by heart." Engineer got them both forks and knives from the utensil container, and placed them with glasses for both on the table.

"Nah, she just wanted to ask how I was. She said that she had heard a lot about me." Scout said casually, not wanting to lie, but not really wanting to tell the whole story.

"Yeah, can't blame her for that. I kind of get carried away when around her." Engineer said, and the Food was soon brought before them, and Scout was drooling immediately. It smelled delicious.

"She just always manages to surprise me. When I think that her cooking can't get any better, she comes up with a new dish." Engineer said as he took a bite of the pork roast, humming as he enjoyed the taste. Scout had to agree with him, the food was delicious.

"Would you like to go somewhere else after this? Do you need anything?" Engineer asked, and Scout shook his head. He didn't really have anything he needed too much."Nah, I'll be cool. I can get some clothes some other time." Scout assured, and enjoyed his food. He had some things to think about.

After all, Engineer had insisted on getting him some new clothes, just some shorts and casual wear like that. It wasn't a long trip to the cloth store, so they were back home not too soon later. Engineer was talking about his project, and Scout could see that he was excited. Engineer mentioned that he had to go see the Medic about something, and after which he would resume his work in the shed. Scout let the man get to his shed and start working on whatever he was working with, as he himself went to sit to the garden chairs, tending the fire as he was thinking.

Engineer probably liked him back, if he just was brave enough to say the words, maybe everything would pick up from there. He was pretty sure that he should do his first move soon. After all, Marine had said that it should be him who made first move. But she had also said that Engineer would try to win him over with his actions. He sure had done good job with that. He made delicious food, he made him prosthesis every time he wound something to complain about them, or he improved the ones he had. He had greased these prosthesis up before he had went to see the medic and the shed.

Scout had forgotten himself then, just thinking about the things that Engineer had done to him as he watched the fire dance on the campfire.

He had been awaken to the reality only after hours had passed, and it was already getting late. The sun was setting, and Engineer was shaking his shoulder.

"Scout, are you okay?" Scout startled, and looked up at Engineer. He had not expected the man, but he hadn't expected the night to fall that fast either. Engineer was right handed, but he was shaking him with his left hand, Scout noticed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just lost myself for a moment, I guess." Scout got up, and noted that Engineer was scratching his right arm. He paid no mind to it, and got in to the trailer with Engineer quick on his heels.

"It's already pretty late. I was going to sleep myself. I wasn't expecting you to still be up." Engineer patted Scout on the shoulder. And they went to the back to sleep.

Engineer was quick to fall asleep, but Scout took a moment. He thought, that tomorrow he would make his move, even if it would take him the whole day.


	13. Chapter 13

When Scout got up the next morning he noted that Engineer had already left to the shed. He thought about going to visit him the first thing in the morning, but he chickened out. Instead he put on some clothes, and got his ball, and started playing. He put on his blades, and he played alone, by hitting the ball, and then going to fetch it. If he would have several balls, he could hit them all in a row, and then go fetch them at the end, but with only one ball it was a little frustrating.

Scout kept playing about for a while, but soon got interfered by Sniper.

"Hey kid, what you up to?" Sniper came by, and Scout waved his hand at him. "Just playing some ball. You wanna join?" He asked, and Sniper huffed. "I'm rubbish at batting."

"Bullshit, take the bat, I'll catch!" Scout laughed, and threw the bat at Sniper, who leered at him.

"Fine, but no laughing if I miss 3 and get out." Scout grinned, and nodded. At least the Sniper was a game.

And as Sniper has said, he was rubbish at baseball. He barely hit a single ball, and when he hit they didn't fly straight, but the man got some strength behind the bat at least. Whenever Sniper managed to hit the ball, Scout had to run as fast as he could to catch the ball, even if he nearly had to follow the ball that kept rolling on the ground.

"You are kind of like a dog you know. I throw a ball, you fetch." Sniper joked, and Scout laughed. "Yeah. Still fun though." Scout grinned, and he rested against his knees to breath some air.

"Man, this stuff would be so awesome with some bonk! I could fetch those things in like, a second." Scout puffed, and then the idea hit him. He should actually try ask Engineer if he had some.

"I'm going to ask if I could get some bonk!" Scout straightened himself, and he was already about to go, but he remembered to tell Sniper off "I'll be back later, no need to wait me or anything!" Sniper only laughed and waved him off "Have fun!" He yelled, and from the corner of his eye Scout could see the man returning to his tower. Scout run with his blades to the shed, so it was a breeze. He could hear the sound of welding, but he didn't think that it would be much of a trouble if he got in now, he could always close his eyes until Engineer stopped to see the imprint of his work.

Scout pushed the door open with his eyes closed, and he carefully made his way forwards. He knew how much there was junk on the floor, so he took small steps.

Scout knew that Engineer couldn't hear him over the welding, so he waited patiently until the man stopped, and when he did his mouth was quicker to say his thoughts than his eyes were to tell what he saw.

"Hey, Engineer, I was thinking if Maybe I could..." Scout mumbled, but was comforted with a sight he had no way to prepare to. Engineer was welding something, and as difficult as it was to understand, Scout was sure that the something was attached to his hand.

"What the hell?" Scout backed away. Engineer had a prosthesis. In his right arm.

"Scout?" Engineer turned around, and Scout could see the prosthesis fully. It had a similar round part where the prosthesis was attached to his arm, below his elbow. Under that was another round metallic object with buttons, attached to the upper round part by two tubes. On the back of the palm there was round objects, and metallic bars to replace fingers. It was just as crude as Scout's leg was, but the most shocking thing was that the man had it in the first place. It was attached to his frickin' arm! He had a perfectly fine hand, why would he do something like this?

"What have you done." Scout said I shocks, backing away some more when Engineer tried to come closer and comfort him.

"Scout, don't you get it, I'm just like you now. Engineer 2.0" Engineer said, but Scout was disgusted. The man's arm moved like a realm hand when he moved, finger flexing in to fest in a tightening motion, and Scout shook his head.

"No, I don't get it. How could you do this!" He yelled, and Tried to come closer, but Scout shook his head and held his hands in a barricade. "You cut your fucking arm off!" Scout felt the sting of tears in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. How could Engineer be this Stupid.

"Scout, calm down, I have been thinking about this for a while now, and I though..." Engineer was trying to explain, but Scout didn't want to hear it.

"NO! What do you want of me! Has all of this been some stupid experiment for you!" Scout yelled, and tried to mimic Engineer, but even he knew that he was doing a poor job at it with tears flowing down his cheeks: "Let's make Scout some prosthesis, if they work, I can use them for myself! Brilliant idea! Let's pull Scout by the fucking strings and see how he falls head over heels to over me! Must be a shock for him to realize that his just one fucking experiment!" Scout yelled, and Hit Engineer's hands off him when he tried to reach over.

"Fuck you, just, fuck you!" He yelled, and turned around to run away. Engineer took a hold of Scout with the metallic arm, and Scout cringed. The metal was cold, inhuman.

"Let go of me!" Scout yelled, and he fought his arm off Engineer's grasp, and he was out of the shed before Engineer could do anything. "Just let me be." Scout cried, and he run. Engineer had no chance of catching him. Scout was the fastest person alive with the blades, and an average runner like Engineer had no chance on catching him. He tried, but he had no chance. The boy was out of his sight before he could spell his own name.

Engineer slumped against the doors of the shed. He buried his head in his knees and dug his hands under his helmet to cover his head.

Scout had not reacted how he had expected. Scout was not supposed to even know yet. He would break it to him slowly, tell him why he had done it, but now he felt like an idiot. He felt like shit when Scout had put it that way, even if it was not what he had meant. He did not want the other to see him doing this as a bad thing. He just wanted to be more like Scout, to show him that he cared. And what an awesome job had he done at that. Now the kid was lost. And it would start raining soon.

Engineer felt like crying himself, but it would be no use. He would have to find Scout, and explain himself.

Engineer looked at his hand, and he tightened it in to a fist. He was such an asshole.

Engineer got up, and he stated to search. He had no clue where the other could have went to.

Scout ran as far as he could go before he lost his breath completely and he collapsed. He had gotten in to an old barn. He crawled inside, knowing that the rain was about to fall.

The barn was full of hay, and it itched and Scratched Scout's arms and tights. He sat in the furthest corner and cried on his arms. Engineer was such a jerk. So stupid, stupid man. How could he have done something like that. Did he not care about himself at all? He had been so deep in love that he had not even noticed what a tool he himself had been.

Scout sniffled and swallowed in his self pity for so long, that he didn't even hear his name being called for several times.

"Scout!" When Scout actually did hear his name, Engineer had already found him, and was by his side in a moment. Scout only stared at him with a leer, not wanting the man to touch him.

"Damn, Scout! Even if I did this to myself and literally tested it on you, I only wanted for you to feel normal!" Engineer said, and slumped down against the wall opposite Scout, a good few meters from Scout.

Scout didn't want to look at Engineer.

Engineer sighed as he grasped some hay with his mechanical arm. "I just wanted for you to feel normal. I thought, that if I had a mechanical arm you would feel more normal. Like we were the same." Engineer tried to get the Scout to look at him, but Scout was persistent to avoid his gaze.

"I just hoped that it would at least make you feel more secure, or at least understood with me. Goddamnit Scout, In my head all this just made sense. I can't explain that." Engineer growled, and Scout paid a small glance at him, and he saw that the man was genuinely sad, filled with sorrow and regret.

"Only thing that I can explain, is that I have grown fond of you. I can say that I have learned to enjoy, no, love your presence. I love your personality, I like everything about you. And I have no idea how to express myself." Engineer mumbled, and Scout stared wide eyed at the man like a deer in the head lights.

"I care for you, Scout. Man, I frikkin love you alright, but if that's not what you want, then beat it." Engineer said, and Scout could hear the man's sorrow in his voice as Engineer stood up, and slogged out of the barn, with his head down, eyes on the ground. Scout felt sorry for him, and he really started to feel like a jerk for yelling at him. But he had been truly upset, mad even.

Scout notices that his cheeks were blushing. He had not expected the Engineer to tell him about his feelings, but now that he had, Scout felt like he was raised up to the clouds.

Scout remembers all the good times with Engineer. The time when he made him the wheelchair. When he made him delicious food. When he made him his prosthesis. He remembers how Engineer taught him to walk and run, and he remembers how Engineer taught him how to walk the steps to the trailer. He remembers when Engineer used to play ball with him and go for walks. And he remembers their visit to the town. He feels like the past weeks have been one big dream. One pleasant, happy dream.

Scout remembers how he had admired Engineer, and he now realizes that he had always admired him, and how he always will.

So Scout thinks this over. He doesn't care if his gay or what, but he thinks that this deserves a chance. All he knows, is that he should try. If this works, then it works. There's no use trying to deny this any longer.

So Scout decides that he would forget today. He would go back to Engineer, and he would apologize and set things straight.

Scout decides, that now is his turn to explain.

It had started to rain before Scout had reached the trailer, and he was completely drenched. Scout assumed that Engineer was inside where it was warm, since he could see light from the Trailer windows. He didn't even hesitate at the door, because it was really cold and wet outside.

Engineer was sitting around the table, looking at the table when Scout got him, and he was dripping water all over the place.

"I'm sorry." Scout said immediately as Engineer looked up, and Engineer put down his hardhat.

"You are dripping wet." Engineer stated, and swiped some water off his face.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Me should talk this out." Scout mumbled, and tried to come sit around the table, but Engineer ushered him to the end of the trailer to change.

Scout pulled off the wet clothes and threw them in to the toilet to dry. Scout went to join the Engineer around the table, already feeling a little better with warm clothes.

"I... I want to say that I have been... Thinking." Scout mumbled, as he tried to form understandable sentences from the words that were in his head.

Engineer looked up at Scout, not sure about what to say, so Scout took over the talking.

"I just mean, that I got quite mad after seeing you do something like that so sudden. I wasn't expecting you to do anything like that." Scout mumbled, and tried to look at Engineer's arm, and take in the fact that the arm was now permanent. There was nothing he could do to change that.

"I was just... shocked I guess." Scout mumbled, and reached for the mechanical arm across the table, and took it in his hand. The metallic arm was cold, and hard to touch. It had edges that weren't sharp per se, but they were so unlike a human hand. Different.

"But You said that you did it with all the good things in mind, and I try to see that." Scout mumbled, and entwined their finger, Engineer's metallic finger felt too big between his fingers, and the edges were pressing against his flesh, but Scout didn't mind. Scout pulled the arm up against his cheek, getting shivers by how cold the metal was, and how hot his cheeks were.

"I just want to say that I care for you too." He mumbled, and leaned over the arm, and he reached his hand that wasn't entwined with the metallic fingers to cradle Engineers arm where the metal attached to the flesh.

"I mean that I love you too." Scout whispered, and Engineer looked him in the eyes. This time Scout did not turn his gaze away, but made sure to keep his eyes locked.

Engineer reached up to Scout, and pulled him closer to him over the table. "C'mere." He whispered to Scout's ear as he hugged him over the table, and Scout could feel Engineer's stubble scratch his chin.

He loved that.

Engineer got up to stand, and Scout followed him. The man gave him a proper hug without the table being between them, and Scout breathed in his scent with a shake breath. He was so glad that this could be dealt with with such simple things as apologizing.

"I have things to say too." Engineer mumbled, and and took Scout's arms in to his, the other hand was calloused, warm, a little hard, but still soft around his hand. The other hand was cold, metallic, and Engineer held his hand so gently that Scout thought that he might be worried about the actual strength the hand possessed.

"I have not been completely honest. When I said that I took you in with only pure need to get you out there, and to help you and to fix you, well I didn't lie, but it isn't the complete truth either." Engineer sighed, and looked on the ground, and Scout had to steer the man's sight back up to look at him.

"Then tell me." Scout said, sounding surprisingly stout, so Engineer did.

"Well, I have been planning this... improvement, for a longer while." Engineer mumbled, and Scout smiled at his choice of words. He had yet to see if it was an improvement or not.

"Everyone knew. That's why they let me have you in the first place. A kid who lost his legs, who better to test on." Engineer's voice was low, and Scout felt a little sad himself. He had been literally an experiment, but he let Engineer continue. After all, he had not intruded his speech earlier.

"Well, It was supposed to be like that at first, but I couldn't help seeing a person in you, and I found out that I actually wanted to know that person. I learned to like you, and I don't regret that a singe moment." Engineer fondled Scout's lower back nervously, and Scout gave his other arm a firm squeeze to tell that it was okay.

"It's okay." Scout said out loud, and he smiled at Engineer, even if it felt a little forced.

"It's all bygones. Let's just act like none of it matters, and let's start anew." Scout felt like he was the main character of a sappy love novel, but he didn't care. At least it was his love novel.

"I meant it when I said that I loved you." Scout implied, and Engineer smiled back at him. "Yeah, me too." Engineer looked Scout in the eyes, and Scout smiled. "Then I see no problem." He said, and crouched down a little to kiss Engineer. It was still so weird to see himself as the one taller than Engineer.

The kiss was a mere touch at first, like trying the waters. It was long, soft, wet and tasted kind of salty, but Scout didn't mind. To him the kiss was perfect because he was finally able to kiss him, and what made it better was that Engineer was kissing him back. It was not perfect, it had too much tickling stubble and uncertain fumbling.

But it was an emotional kiss, not much of tongue included, and it probably carried more words than Scout could ever manage to say.

Scout liked it when he felt Engineer's metallic hand against his hip, giving him a squeeze. For some reason, metallic hand and prosthetic legs included, the moment was perfect.

So when Scout pulled up, he felt out of breath, and completely giddy. Engineer took him to the back of the trailer, so they could lay on his bed. The bed was not too wide, but it didn't matter. Engineer leaned against the wall, and Scout settled between his legs, leaning against his chest.

They both felt relaxed after that, and Scout took to playing with Engineer's metallic finger, getting used to the new improvement as Engineer had put it.

The TV had been put on, but neither acknowledged it as it had been turned low just to be background sound for their conversation. Something to look at, but to not pay any mind in to.

And when they both felt relaxed like that, they talked. They talked about everything. Or mostly it was about Scout asking question and Engineer answering them the best of his ability. Did it hurt? Why he wanted it in the very first place? When he had the idea to do it? All kind of things, but he barely remembered the answers to the fleeting questions.

"Well I guess this is kind of cool." Scout mumbled, and Engineer commented something along the lines of "Beats the wrench." but Scout barely noticed.

Scout felt really content at the moment. Suddenly nothing mattered, just the fact that he could spent time with Engineer.

Scout laughed out loud suddenly, and Engineer looked at him with marvel.

"Nah, It's just.." Scout mumbled, laughing a little between sentences before he got a good breath in and he continued nearly normally after that: "When we were at the city, Marine told me that you had the tendency of doing stupid things to gain people's attention. Well, I had no idea that you would go as far as to chop your arm off just for me." Scout laughed again, and even Engineer laughed a little, and he poked Scout between his third and fourth rib.

"Hey, don't you listen to her!" Engineer poked him again, and Scout fought his arm off.

"Hah, it's cool. At least I know that you have the hots for me." Scout grinned so goofy, that Engineer couldn't resist the tease and kissed the stupid grin off his face. Scout didn't mind at all, but kissed him back eagerly.

They kissed for several more times, before they started to get drowsy, and they fell asleep, being lulled by the faint pitter patter of rain outside. They were both tangled with each other, with Engineer's metallic arm jarring against Scout's back, and Scout's legs weighting on Engineer's. Neither of them cared, because they both had gotten the best sleep they had in a while.

In the morning Scout was the first one to wake up, and he noticed that he was being used as a giant teddy by the Engineer. This seemed familiar. He grinned. He wouldn't have minded that much, but the man had his leg over Scout's waist, and he was obviously dreaming about something, because his leg kept moving in his sleep. Kind of like a dog kept kicking or running on his sleep. It would have been too adorable, if the Engineer wasn't rubbing his dick through his pants.

Scout would have tried to push his leg away, but he was currently restrained by Engineer's arms that were holding him on place.

"Ungh, hey Engineer, would you mind?" Scout mumbled, and he tried to turn around, But Engineer only buried his face deeper in to Scout's neck, and grunted, making Scout's dick think that the grunt was meant for him especially.

"Engineer, you are not being too fair." Scout whined as the man smiled, and laughed.

"You bastard, you are awake and still doing this to me!" Scout whined, but yelped as Engineer rolled them around, sitting against Scout's metallic legs, rendering Scout's feet useless.

"Well, I doubt that you mind." Engineer said, as he thrust down against' Scout's thigh and Scout was sure that the chills he got were caused by the exact reason. The good kind of chills.

Scout would have wanted to open his legs, but he couldn't. "You are such a tease." he whined, and tried to get up, but Engineer had hinds hands pinned above his head.

"Engineer." Scout whined, trying to pout, but his effort was in vain when Engineer bend down to kiss him. "Scout." Engineer made sure to suck on his lover lip, to literally kiss the pout off his face. When Scout smiled and his lip slipped off from Engineer's hold, they kissed again. Their teeth hit each other in the haste, but Scout didn't mind. He slipped his tongue out to lick Engineer's lower lip, and the man hummed as he took Scout's tongue in, and made sure to give it the proper treatment that Made Scout moan and lose his battle. Engineer took the change to push his tongue in, and Scout, being unable to move his hands, thrust up with his hips to rub against Engineer over him, making the other thrust back, pushing Scout against the bed with his weight.

Scout fought his arms free, or Engineer let them go, whichever, but now Scout finally managed to dig his hands on Engineer's head to pull him closer in the kiss, after sliding his hands against his throat and to his chest to push him off to breath.

"You are far too good at this." Scout panted, and and Engineer rolled his hips against Scout, making Scout dig his hands against Engineer's side and back, pulling him closer. "My point." Scout hissed, as he pushed himself up to nibble Engineer's throat with his teeth.

"Scout." Engineer muffled, as he had his fingers under Scout's shirt hem, and he kept dragging it up, until Scout had to let go of Engineer's throat for long enough to pull the shirt off.

"I have been wanting do to this for a while." Engineer mumbled, and smiled as he slid his hands up along Scout's body from his hips, over his stomach, over his chest, and over his shoulders before he pulled them down on Scout's sides.

"I have been waiting for this." Scout sighed, and put his hands on Engineer's shoulder, and pushed the suspenders down from Engineer's shoulders, winking at him as he pushed down the overalls.

Engineer shivered, and Scout would bet that he had heard a growl being emitted by Engineer. "You make me do the craziest of things" Engineer got his hands free from the overalls, and let Scout push the cloth down. "I know." Scout grinned, and looked at Engineer through his lashes, and Engineer couldn't resist him. He took off his overalls, and threw them off the bed.

"You look good with collar up." Scout teased as he straightened the Engineer's collar, before he slowly started to pop the buttons open, feeling the Engineer slide his hands down Scout's waist, Making Scout thrust up. He didn't want to hurry, he wanted to tease the other just like he teased him with his pure presence.

"Well, you look good without your clothes on." Engineer countered, and sneaked his fingers under the waistband of Scout's jeans. Engineer slid his hand under the waistband to the front, and opened the button of the jeans. Engineer looked Scout in the eyes with a eager smile, before he looked back down to slide the zipper down, slowly, and Scout could feel the man's warm fingers against his manhood, even if the boxers were hindering the friction.

"Tease." Scout breathed, as he pushed himself down on the mattress, and tried to arch his crotch up, but Engineer pulled his fingers back up to push down the pants. He got them easily off with Scout still raising his hips, and made sure to throw them off the bed.

"You calling me a tease? Ever looked in the mirror?" Engineer chuckled, and sat up on his knees to pull off his shirt. Scout saw the broad chest of the other, and he saw that the man had chest hair, and seeing it turned him on immensely. The trail went down from the man's chest, over his belly, and disappeared under the boxers. Scout had to use all his willpower to will his eyes look back up, where he fixed his sight on the man's chest. Scout felt like touching every single muscle on Engineer's chest and stomach, caress the pectorals with his hands, and bite the brown nipples, and giving them a lick. And before he noticed, he was doing exactly that.

Not to say that the grasso speciale lubricant they got from Josh got some improvised use.

"That was amazing." Scout mumbled as he finally felt secure enough to talk, and Engineer smiled as he held Scouts chin in place with his arm to place a tender kiss on his lips.

"Yeah."

"Yeah." Scout agreed, and he rested on the mattress, letting Engineer play with his short hair.

"I Love you." Engineer was the first to say that, and Scout looked at the other's brown eyes, and he saw only honesty in there. He smiled, and gave Engineer's cheek a rub as he looked at him in the eyes. "I love you too." He said, and reached over to give him a deep kiss, but that was when they both heard loud, running steps from outside, and before either of them could do anything, the trailer door was pulled open, and someone walked in loudly, and yelled: "Scout, you maggot, get your shit together, you are late from your training you disgrace to America!" Soldier hollered, and Scout jolted up to stand in a fraction of a second, hitting his head on the top punk as he got up.

"Soldier!" He yelled in panic as he tried to gather up his clothes. "Oh god, don't come here! I'll be done in a second!" Scout yelled, and Engineer laughed as the other tried to pull on his red shirt.

"Welcome in to the team Scout. Welcome in to the team."

**Epilogue**

IT was weeks later, and Scout was finally accepted as the full on member of team RED. He got to wear the shirt, and got to wear the red badge of a shoe with wings again. He thought that he had deserved it, and he knew that he had deserved the victory of his first battle on the field.'

"They had no idea what hit them!" Scout cheered, as he followed Engineer, and told him recaps of the fight, telling about how his old team had been so shocked to see him on the other side of the field, that they barely knew how to react!

Of course, some of the Team BLU thought of him as some poor soul who had been brainwashed in to RED, or a betrayal to the team, but Scout didn't care. He was in his own team now, and he was happy.

The RED team had been good to him. Some of the members had warmed up to him after they got to knew him. Medic was still quite indifferent, but he accepted the fact that Engineer had done good job with him, whatever that meant. Heavy packed up Medics opinion, and Demoman was too drunk to care.

Soldier was very strict with him as suspected, but it wasn't anything that Scout couldn't deal with. Pyro was still completely indifferent about him, and the Spy had seemed to accept him as the new addition to the team.

The Sniper had been a little taken aback when he was told about Scout and Engineer, but even he had seen it coming. "Way to break up a guys change." He had pouted at Scout, but he didn't hold a grudge. Scout thought that the man had just said that to tease him anyways.

So he got along with his team well now, and it made him happy. The best part of the team was Engineer, who was by his side at all times. Scout had even gotten used to the gunslinger, as Engineer had taken to call is robotic arm. It had even proven to be useful in the field. So now after all the drama had settled, They got along well, and everything was sweet.

"Hey Scout. I have been thinking about a new project." Engineer said, as he was in his shed one day. Scout had accompanied him in, trying to help him with the best of his abilities, but he had to admit that he was still really rubbish with everything that had to do with electronics.

"If it has anything to do with any kind of mechanics to replace body parts, then forget it." Scout spatted, and Engineer laughed.

"Nah, nothing like that, just a simple project, here come take a look." He said, and waved Scout closer with his robotic arm.

Scout came by, and he recognized the blueprint. It was the one about the house, but it was modified a little, and the obvious change Scout saw that it wasn't designed like a bachelor house anymore, but more like a house for two.

"Since we are probably going to be together for a while, and the Trailer is getting kind of cramped, I have thought about building this behind the trailer." Engineer said, and Scout took the blueprints on his hands, and looked over them excitedly.

"Really, that's going to be awesome!" he cheered, and sneaked his hand around Engineer's waist. "Maybe we can get a dog or something, this will be so cool." Scout was excited, and Engineer smiled fondly, and cited Scout.

"Yeah, it will be awesome."

* * *

AN: And there you have it! Make sure to visit the AO3 for complete sex scene, and some extra added doodles.

I hope you liked this, this was my NaNoWriMo entry year 2012.

I would love to hear what you liked about the story, thank you for reading.


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